Vandals outside the Sun Valley home of the president of LA City Council, Nury Martinez, were caught in the act pouring some type of liquid on her car and then leaving a mark on the driveway pavement.
“My home was vandalized right outside my daughter’s bedroom window. When I woke up, I woke up to graffiti on my driveway, my personal car had been vandalized, and I was on my way to take my daughter to school this morning,” she said.
At least two people are seen in the video – now in the hands of LAPD’s Foothill station which is investigating and using multiple other cameras from the neighborhood to try to find out who was behind this targeted attack.
Martinez says she knows what “stop the sweeps” is referring to, but thinks the vandals have missed the message she says she’s been preaching since taking an oath to serve her district.
Get Southern California news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC LA newsletters.
“John, it’s been a year of threats, of verbal harassment and now vandalism. It isn't going to stop me from doing my job and continue to run this city. I can't live in fear and I can't legislate in fear, I have to continue to do my job,” Martinez stated.
Before the pandemic, Martinez walked with us as part of our Streets of Shame series, showcasing how the Sepulveda basin had become a dumping ground of homeless encampments and fire threats. A four-phase clean up cleared it out just before the pandemic hit.
“You’ve seen what our city looks like. It’s nothing to be proud about. This pandemic not only has been a burden on all of us, but it’s also exploded our homeless crisis in front of our eyes. We need to house people as quickly as possible, provide the services and clean to get back the public right-of-way,” she said.
The message on her pavement – a rallying cry for some homeless advocacy groups for the city of LA to stop clearing out homeless encampments. Martinez says the vandals have done nothing to promote their cause.
“This is what advocacy looks like in 2021.”
She says she turned down added security and even extra patrols in her neighborhood, adding that it wouldn’t be right when she voted to cut LAPD’s budget. She says this attack won’t deter her plans to continue serving the city and its citizens.
