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Police are investigating a vandalism crime at the home of Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez that was caught on video.
Martinez said in a statement that she woke up Friday morning and found graffiti at her home and damage to her car.
Security footage that Martinez posted on Twitter shows a person pouring a liquid over her car and another graffitiing the words “end the sweeps” on her driveway, which seems to refer to the city’s sweeps of homeless encampments that require people to remove their tents.
“A line was crossed last night,” Martinez said. “I do not live in fear, I do not legislate in fear, I will continue to do my job. This is my community. This does absolutely nothing to get people off the street and into housing.”
Protests erupted around the city’s decision to clear a massive encampment at Echo Park Lake in March that had nearly 200 tents. City officials had kept the timing a secret until the last minute. On one night of protests, officials said 182 people were arrested after failing to disperse.
In the weeks before the clean-up, outreach workers had been able to get more than 180 people living in the park into hotel rooms rented by the city, as well as other forms of temporary housing. The park reopened last month after a cleanup that produced more than 35 tons of trash.
The city’s handling of its recreation areas during a massive homelessness crisis has been a subject of intense debate in other neighborhoods. Homeowners in Los Feliz have voiced concerns to Councilwoman Nithya Raman about the fire danger posed by encampments in Griffith Park. In Venice, some constituents of Councilman Mike Bonin have demanded that the city clear a beachfront encampment.
Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Tony Im said Friday evening that no arrests had been made in connection with the vandalism incident.
Times reporter Emily Alpert Reyes contributed to this report.
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