BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer
A local civil rights group on Friday (Dec. 4) called for the resignation of recently re-elected Los Altos Councilwoman Lynette Lee Eng after she said she felt threatened by text messages from one of the group’s members.
Lee Eng told the Post Friday that she was worried she would be doxxed or have her home vandalized, similar to what has happened to other politicians in the Bay Area. Lee Eng received the texts from Justice Vanguard member Kenan Moos after not voting on an issue about whether police complaints could be submitted to a third-party, such as an auditor or retired judge. The vote was part of a larger discussion the council was having on Nov. 24 about policing in Los Altos.
Justice Vanguard asked the city over the summer to paint Black Lives Matter on a city street. It has also been working with the city on police reform.
The Post filed a California Public Records Act request for the texts in question. The city responded by saying they would be available on Friday, Dec. 11.
The Post asked Lee Eng to send a copy of the texts she received on Nov. 24, but she refused, saying she did not want to provide the texts to the Post but confirmed what Vanguard had posted on its Facebook page as accurate.
The four texts read:
“Your name will be all over the papers. We know there are racists that supported you. You are trying to delay this.”
“It has nothing to do with budget and you know this.”
“You lied to me in our discussions that you were going to support racial matters. You said you were the only one in favor and it looks like you are the only one against them. Very disappointing.”
“I just want to be clear, this is in no way a threat of any kind. This is me expressing my disappointment.”
After getting the first two texts, Lee Eng said she was “getting comments from Vanguard calling me racist now.”
“I am making this known to the public because if anything were to happen to me or my family, I am making it known that I voted the way I did and I am representing my concerns because of lack of information … I want to protect myself and my family,” Lee Eng said.
Lee Eng said the third and fourth texts came in while she was making her statement.
‘Stunning’
In a statement issued Friday, Justice Vanguard called Lee Eng’s statement “stunning.”
“The actions of this councilwoman are far more harmful than those of Amy Cooper, the woman who called the police on a Black man in New York for politely asking her to leash her dog. Ms. Eng’s actions were an attempt to silence a leading local Black voice by criminalizing him and his organization.
She also put him in physical danger by making him a target of local police, as they now believe that he threatened her,” Justice Vanguard said in a statement.
“A Black person should be able to express their disappointment without being criminalized. The question is if he was white, would she still have claimed that she was threatened?” the statement from Justice Vanguard says.
Concern over doxxing
Lee Eng says she is not scared of the person who sent the texts, but rather the possibility of being doxxed and becoming the subject of the cancel culture.
Doxxing is the publishing of private and identifying information on the internet with harmful intent.
“I know allegations are saying it’s because of someone’s color and it’s not,” Lee Eng said, adding that you can never be completely sure who is behind the texts you are getting.
“Why I am fearful of doxxing or cancel culture? … They may have not been intending to do anything, (but) what happens when people’s names get out there? You never know what it may trigger in other people,” Lee Eng said, citing the vandalism that occurred at the homes of San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.
Lee Eng pointed out that she is the first Asian American woman on the city’s council, and she is proud to serve Los Altans based on her experiences, but said there is a lack of respect for diversity of ideas.
I’m glad she didn’t knuckle under to this guy. He couldn’t win in the arena of ideas so he turns to threats of particular council members. It’s an intimidation racket. Hope the police pay him a visit to let him know his behavior is not OK.
Hope Mr. Kenan Moos goes back to Oregon. Oregon needs you more! Thank you and good bye!
He’s a Los Alton. This is where he belongs and we’re lucky to have him!
You on the other hand is welcome to hit the road.
Los Altos is a small and peaceful town that cannot provide enough opportunities for activists.
Oregon will have a bigger stage for him to play. Take your “lucky” there. Bless all of you!
You alone don’t define what Los Altos is or who belongs here. People like you is the reason we need people like him in Los Altos.
Why are council members texting during council meetings? They should shut off their phones and pay attention to the meeting. They represent us! So they should give the meeting their undivided attention.
How about council women (Jan Pepper and Mary Prochnow )chat with each other during residents address their issues? How about Jeannie Bruins and Neysa Fligor ? They did that frequently too! Is that “politeness” ？
If Mr. Moors has the issue, please follow the meeting order. Speak in public like everyone did.
Los Altos and racism: yes, there’s a long history and ongoing too.
However Mr Moos has it backwards.
IF there’s one person on Council who has done everything possible to address racism in the City’s admin and governance it is Ms Lee Eng. In fact she herself has been the target of the racism by fellow council members which Mr Moos may be unaware of.
Kudos to Lee Eng for calling this out. As for Mr Moos he may have spoken in haste and reacted to his disappointment immaturely. He’d do well to stand up, apologize, and move on. Ms Lee Eng is a friend, not the enemy, to those concerned about racist practices in Los Altos.
This [Word deleted — please don’t use offensive words] needs to pay for siding with the pigs
I’m glad Lee Eng called out Moos. Bet he didn’t expect she’d do this. Hopefully he’ll stop this.
Oh crying out loud. Lee Eng knew this young man very well from the multiple interactions they’ve had. She knew perfectly well that he was not a threat. She got upset at his text and decided at that moment to turn it into some kind of self-pitying drama. She knows that she has no leg to stand on with her accusations, which is why she refused to share her side of the text exchange. What an embarrassment for the city of Los Altos.
She had every reason in the world to fear this guy. He wanted to force the city to paint a Black Lives Matter banner on Main Street. As if other lives don’t matter. And the BLM activists are sly. On one hand they say they reject violence, yet after the sun goes down, their “peaceful protesters” turn into rioters, arsonists and looters. BLM and their fellow travelers in antifa are anti-American terrorists. You can’t negotiate with or accommodate terrorists.
One of these days a woman will NOT call the police when she actually is threatened, fearing the woke mob, then she’ll get killed but you know what, it probably won’t make the news.
Please- Los Altos is a small town and everyone already knows where Lee Eng lives and her contact info. She is just trying to justify her ridiculous response to being called out. Just because she is an Asian American does not mean she cannot be racist. Kenan has been a role model for our city, advocating for change in a positive and inspiring many to speak up against the implicit bias and racism in our “small” town, even if we do not experience it ourselves. He was just named by our town newspaper as a “Los Altan of the Year” for his efforts and it is well-deserved!
Agree. Lee Eng knows she doesn’t have a leg to stand on with her false accusations, which is why she refused to share her side of the text exchange. She got upset at the heat of the moment and decided to create a self pity drama. Bet she didn’t think she’ll get called out for it.
Saturday’s edition of the Daily Post reports that Los Altos City Councilwoman Lynette Lee Eng is being pressured to resign over speaking about a series of text messages she received that can be interpreted as threatening. Although the final text in the series reads, “I just want to be clear, this is in no way a threat of any kind. This
is me expressing my disappointment,” one has to ask why this statement was necessary if the texts in question were unambiguously NOT a threat?
In light of recent events around the country, it is reasonable to fear doxxing, vandalism or physical harm.
A 5-minute video from Dennis Prager’s Prager U explains that what once was the start of healthy debate is now just as often a catalyst for personal and professional destruction.’ “The mob” is out to cancel anyone who crosses it. Watch the video at https://www.prageru.com/video/never-apologize-to-the-mob/ .
I respectfully suggest that if cancel culture prevails this time, they will be back for more in the future and no council member will be safe. Don’t give in to cancel culture.
Put your feet in Lee Eng’s shoes for moment. African Americans are justified when they say they feel triggered by the sight of a police officer. They have ample evidence of how they’ve been mistreated and discriminated again. Asian Americans have a history of mistreatment and discrimination. They feel triggered by African Americans who have targeted them with violence for years. They were discriminated against going back to the Asian Exclusion Act. Lee Eng doesn’t play the victim card like Keenan, but they both have justified fears.
“They feel triggered by African Americans who have targeted them with violence for years.”
What a load of BS. What Lee Eng did was pure “Karen”, relying on the public’s racist fear of Black men to gain sympathy for her injured ego. I’m honestly embarassed for her.
Why would Keenan say her name will be all over the papers? Yes, it’s a threat. And it’s credible because the papers always tha side of BLM and agitators like him. It’s a threat and a very revealing comment.
Because she’s a public official failing to vote for an issue she claimed she would support when she was campaigning for re-election. If you don’t want your name in the papers, don’t take an elected position. She has run for school board, county board of ed and city council. She wants to be in the public eye. That means accepting both positive and negative press.
Which issue did she campaign on and then fail to support?
She voted for inclusivity training, she voted for the Citizens Police Task Force, she voted to eliminate the SRO program. All she did was ask a question about cost, which is what public officials with fiduciary responsibility are supposed to do.
There is no shortage of overwrought hyperbole being deployed by both sides here.
So the records produced for the FOIA request show that there was no threats made and that the only communications during the meeting were the texts that were already shown. Lynette Lee Eng has failed to address this issue, to explain her thoughts or to apologize. She made her accusation during a public meeting and she now needs to explain herself, not hide and wait for this to go away. It’s like the boy who cried wolf – no one will believe her accusations in the future. She has lost credibility and needs to step down for the good of the city council.