Councilman Mike Bonin Writes “Stop the Right-Wing Recalls,” Says Doxing Was Inadvertent and a Venice Issue

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Councilman Mike Bonin

A day after Governor Gavin Newsom beat the California Recall on September 15, Councilman Mike Bonin sent out an email trying the same strategy—claiming he was being targeted by “Trump supporters.”

“Californians handily rejected the attempt to oust Governor Gavin Newsom, but right-wing recall fever is still spreading on the Westside and I need your help to fight it off,” Bonin wrote.

“Like Governor Newsom and other leading progressives in California, I’m being targeted by a cadre of people who are trying to derail efforts to end homelessness, combat climate change, and improve public safety.”

Then Bonin asked for a donation.

Circling the News thought you might like to meet Nico Ruderman and Katrina Schmitt, who head the Bonin Recall committee.

Ruderman and Schmitt are lifelong Democrats who voted for Bonin in the last election. Ruderman is a fourth-generation union member, father and small-business owner, and Schmitt is a longtime Venice resident.

They have made small political contributions in the past to Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Andrew Yang and Kamala Harris. Neither have supported GOP candidates.

In a September 16 press release, Ruderman said: “To paint us and this movement as some kind of right-wing, MAGA effort is not stretching the truth. … It’s an outright lie by Mike Bonin to incite his supporters against us. Publishing our names and home addresses is a blatant attempt to intimidate us and puts us in danger.”

The two charged that Bonin took a move out of Trump’s playbook by lying and name calling, by personally attacking them instead of standing on his own record.

“There is no defense of his failed policies that have destroyed the quality of life for residents of CD 11,” Schmitt said. “Nico and I stand united in opposing this targeted harassment and threats to ourselves and our families. We are calling for the immediate resignation of Mike Bonin. We also are calling on our community to stand with us against this egregious behavior from our elected official. We are also asking Councilman Bonin to end these nasty tactics that put us in danger.”

Bonin was accused of doxing, which is against the law. He revealed Schmitt’s and Ruderman’s names and addresses in a campaign video and in a September 15 tweet on his Twitter account.

On September 16, two rocks were thrown through Schmitt’s front-glass door, shattering it.

At the Palisades Democratic Club’s annual Garden Party on Sunday, Bonin was asked via Zoom about the doxing. “Did you do that and why?”

Bonin said, “No, we didn’t do that. There was a campaign ad that showed the public notice that was served upon me by the recall proponents and that public notice does include the addresses of people. When it was brought up to me a couple of hours ago, it was redacted and taken down.

“There was nothing wrong or illegal about it at all,” Bonin said. “I find it interesting that a Venice issue is being brought up at a Pacific Palisades Democratic Club meeting.”

Nico Ruderman said in a September 19 email to Circling the News, “It was particularly troubling for him to call doxing okay —   not that it was a mistake. It is also troubling that doxing was called a Venice issue, as if people in other neighborhoods shouldn’t care that our safety was intentionally jeopardized. There was no apology or even acknowledgement that Katrina was actually attacked and put in danger.”

The Recall Bonin organizers, Katrina Schmitt and Nico Ruderman,  are Democrats.                                                         Photo: Westside Current

 

(Editor’s note: Doxing is when a person releases information on the internet with malicious intent. California Penal Code 653.2 and 18 U.S. Code 2261A makes it illegal for any person to use an electronic device, such as a computer, phone, or tablet to: … Make personal and identifying information or electronic messages of a harassing nature available to view or download. According to the law, a person can sue someone for doxing, if they post your personal or private information or data online.)

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One Response to Councilman Mike Bonin Writes “Stop the Right-Wing Recalls,” Says Doxing Was Inadvertent and a Venice Issue

  1. S.A. says:

    I wholeheartedly support the Recall Bonin 2021 petition. I am not a Trump supporter. I did not support the Newsom recall. I am a Democrat who is unhappy about how my city councilman, Mike Bonin, is ignoring his responsibilities to his district. I am unhappy about how his office and supporters have taken a page out of Trump’s playbook, and have claimed that any criticism towards Bonin and his supporters is driven by partisan politics. We have given Mike Bonin more than enough time to right his wrongs. Instead of coming up with sensible and viable options to tackle our homeless crisis, he has pushed for pie-in-the-sky proposals that make no sense and are going to be a waste of our taxpayer dollars. There is enough money to address this crisis, and no one is against addressing and solving this problem. We support spending that money to help the homeless. But we are against his extravagant gestures and political grandstanding. Mike Bonin needs to quit whining about how unfair his critics are to him, and remember what he was hired to do. He has not listened to his constituents in a very long time, and we have been far too patient for far too long. Mike Bonin needs to go. He needs to go NOW!

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