Sacramento Councilwoman Hires Activist Who Said Mayor and City Manager Should be Terrorized for the Rest of Their Lives

Sacramento City Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela just announced a new hire to her city staff: Skyler Henry, “Sacramento born and raised man of leisure, producer and co-host for @voicesrivercity, musician, maker of films,” according to his Twitter page. Henry is the co-host Voices of River City, a self-described “Leftist news & truth-to-power commentary from #California‘s capital” tied to extreme organizations like the “Sactivists.”

The self-described “Sactivists” group circulated “Wanted” posters lettered in bloody calligraphy on social media with pictures of Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn and City Manager Howard Chan.

Valenzuela made the announcement of her new employee on her Facebook page:

“I’m thrilled to announce the newest member of the D4 team: Skyler Henry. Skyler will be leading our constituent services and communications work. Skyler is the producer and a co-host of VOICES: River City, and regularly interacts with community groups and advocates to advance housing justice and police accountability. Skyler is passionate and dedicated to making D4 and Sacramento a great, livable place for people of every background and walk of life. Please join us in welcoming Skyler to the team!”

Surely she must know last year Skyler Henry, whose Twitter handle is @guillotine4you, was openly supportive of violent protests at the homes of Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and City Manager Howard Chan, and other elected officials, wishing for them to be terrorized for the rest of their lives.

enjoying reading the sac reddit comments on that LA Times piece pic.twitter.com/5zItzcHnqS

— Skyler Henry (@guillotine4you) April 12, 2021

The Los Angeles Times wrote about these intimidating and violent protests at elected officials’ homes:

Skyler Henry, a Sacramento musician sympathetic to the “Sactivists,” said two-faced public officials are fair game for such tactics, whether they are city managers or Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a moderate Democrat from Arizona who recently voted against a minimum wage increase.

**“You should be terrified for the rest of your life. You should never be able to leave your house, if that is how you are going to use your position to govern,” Henry said of Sinema. “The same thing sort of applies with the mayor and city manager of this city.”

Steinberg: Protesters should not vandalize businesses

Also Steinberg: These business owners want the cops to be more aggressive with the protesters

Kinda hard for me to feel bad for business owners if they’re openly calling for police brutality against protesters tbh

— Skyler Henry (@guillotine4you) April 15, 2021

“Mary Lynne Vellinga, a spokeswoman for the mayor, denounced the demonstration, citing numerous damages to Steinberg’s property and several serious threats of violence,” the Sacramento Bee reported. “This isn’t a peaceful protest,” she said. “This is terrorism … this is not what Sacramento is about.”

“Vellinga estimated several thousand dollars worth in damages. Rocks hurled by protesters dented Steinberg’s front door and garage door. Outdoor lighting in front of the house was ripped out and a large piece of decorative artwork was destroyed. She said the destruction was ‘indicative of a place we’ve gotten to in this country that is very dismaying.'”

Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn also called it “terrorism:”

“If you look up the definition of terrorism, it says it’s using violence or intimidation for political gain,” Chief Hahn said. “In my opinion some of these incidents, the way they are trying to provoke fear, are domestic terrorism.”

In Sacramento at least, the days of polite tolerance for intrusive protests seem over. Hahn called it a “proud moment” to see a multiethnic group of city leaders condemn the foray to Chan’s home, promoted by “WANTED” posters that depicted the city manager’s name dripping with blood.

Notably and ironically, Chief Hahn is a black man, and City Manager Chan is of Chinese descent.

Mayor Steinberg and the entire city counsel wrote an open letter denouncing the violence and targeted protests at public elected officials’ homes:

Too often in the past year, we have seen an altogether different kind of protest that traffics in violence, hate and intimidation. Now, the self-described “Sactivists” group is circulating “Wanted” posters lettered in bloody calligraphy on social media with pictures of Police Chief Daniel Hahn and City Manager Howard Chan. They are planning to bring their campaign of intimidation to Mr. Chan’s home on Sunday evening.

No more. A small group of people willing to embrace violence to advance their ill-defined agenda cannot be allowed to put our City leaders and their families at risk in their homes. Protest at City Hall, not outside someone’s bedroom.

These protestors cannot be allowed to appropriate righteous causes like helping those experiencing homelessness or protecting and valuing Black lives. They cannot be allowed to make so much noise that they drown out the voices of love and unity that were crying in the streets of south Sacramento on Saturday.

We will not be intimidated. We are Sacramento.

Signed,

Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Vice Mayor Jay Schenirer, Mayor Pro Tem Angelique Ashby, Councilmember Katie Valenzuela, Councilmember Jeff Harris, Councilmember Sean Loloee, Councilmember Eric Guerra, Councilmember Mai Vang, Councilmember Rick Jennings

About five dozen other groups and regional leaders also signed the letter.

The question is, how can Councilwoman Valenzuela sign a letter denouncing violence and violent protests by radical activists, and then hire one of them? We assume Mayor Steinberg and City Manager Chan surely know about Skyler Henry’s activism against the city, as well as the open activism against Mayor Steinberg as the Twitter posts below show.

The Globe emailed Mayor Darrell Steinberg, City Manager Howard Chan and the Mayor’s spokeswoman Mary Lynne Vellinga early Sunday morning requesting comments or a statement about City Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela’s new hire Skyler Henry, but did not hear back from them, even late the same day. We have no answers but hope to receive a response on this critical issue.

On today's ep we're talking about the woman found dead next to the river this weekend, @Chief_Hahn carelessly and aggressively using terms like "domestic terrorism", and @Flojaune just wanting to watch the world burn. Check it out!https://t.co/HdfOYjK2t0

— Skyler Henry (@guillotine4you) April 13, 2021

Valenzuela’s bio at the California Environmental Justice Alliance, where she worked prior to being elected to the Sacramento City Council, perhaps somewhat explains her ideology and hire of Skyler Henry:

“Katie Valenzuela comes to CEJA with 10 years of public policy and environmental justice experience. She most recently served Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia in key roles, first as the principal consultant for the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change, and then as Capitol Director. A community organizer for 20 years and a proud resident of Sacramento since 2008, Katie helped start the Sacramento Urban Agriculture Coalition, was one of the first Sacramento representatives on California’s AB 32 Environmental Justice Advisory Committee, and is co-chair of the Sacramento Community Land Trust. Katie is passionate about racial and environmental justice, and spends a great deal of her personal and professional time helping elevate the voices of communities of color that are most impacted by climate change.”

Valenzuela contributed to the the California Environmental Justice Alliance‘s report, “Weaving Community- University Research and Action Partnerships for Environmental Justice,” blurring lines between university education and activism. This has played out in her support for Antifa and pushing to defund the Sacramento Police Department $30 million.

This Tweet was retweeted by Skyler Henry:

First, thank you to the comrades @voicesrivercity for being so eloquent, as per usual.

Second; we'll see you soon Darrell. https://t.co/WkJNbIhKeP

— Sacramento Radical Education (@sac_rad_edu) April 11, 2021

made something for you guys pic.twitter.com/AtOENrOGIP

— Skyler Henry (@guillotine4you) April 13, 2021

“Don’t protest at our homes, protest at city hall!”

This is city hall right now.

Seems like maybe the real messaging is “don’t protest” pic.twitter.com/6VqwkbpwH0

— Skyler Henry (@guillotine4you) April 20, 2021

This is Katie Valenzuela’s District 4 page on the Sacramento City Council website:

** Correction: Skyler Henry contacted the Globe and said he used the word “terrified,” and not “terrorized” during the podcast that the statement was made. The Globe made the change in this article Tuesday and noted that we found the quote in the Los Angeles Times article, which did not reference the podcast.

The Globe listened to the entire March 30 Voices: River City podcast, and transcribed the relevant part: Skyler Henry says Sen. Kristen Sinema made the thumbs down vote in Congress on the minimum wage “like with a little dance move. And that makes me furious. Like dude, you should be terrified for the rest of your life,” Henry says. “You should never be able to leave your house, if this is how you are going to use your position to govern.”

“And like to me, the same thing sort of applies to with the mayor and city manager of this city,” Henry continues. “It’s like No, No, you don’t get to do that. You don’t get to make the decisions you have made over and over and over and over and over again to the detriment of everybody who lives here, and then go home to your fucking little McMansion in Natomas and like have a good night’s rest. I’m sorry. You don’t get to do that. You do not have the right to that. Absolutely not.”