Elk Grove Mayor Steve Ly accused of using ‘patriarchal’ clan system to silence critics

The day after protesters marched against police brutality, a south Sacramento business was mysteriously set on fire. The next day Elk Grove Mayor Steve Ly took to Facebook to speak out about losing the Magic Auto Body & Paint shop and chastised those he viewed as responsible.

“People, we can accomplish so much more peacefully,” Ly wrote in a statement that many viewed as a critique of the Black Lives Matter movement. “This destruction and violence needs to stop! This is NOT how we accomplish positive change.”

There was one problem: The fire that gutted the inside of the auto shop was not connected to the June 2 demonstration. Ly was wrong and promptly took the post down. In the weeks since, a number of residents have tried to ensure he doesn’t forget it.

They continued posting screenshots of the statement on social media, criticizing his judgment. At least two people were immediately blocked from viewing Ly’s Twitter account, an act many courts say is illegal if done by public officials. And two women said they received veiled threats in text messages and phone calls from his supporters.

Some of the cryptic messages were sent by strangers claiming to be Hmong clan representatives. The Hmong clan system is sometimes used for dispute resolution, but some Hmong women have called it a toxic and patriarchal arrangement that historically limited their participation.

When asked, Ly deflected blame about blocking people on Twitter and said he didn’t condone the threatening messages. He acknowledged that his comments were made in error.

“The initial post was obviously premature. I didn’t have all the facts,” Ly said in an interview with The Sacramento Bee. “The Fire Department did indicate that it was arson. For me, I was very sympathetic because it was a good friend.”

As for the “threats,” he said clan leaders intervened on their own accord but agreed that while it can be a useful channel to resolve disputes, it may not be the best tool for a public official. Ly was elected in 2016 as the first mayor of Hmong descent in Elk Grove and possibly the country, a distinction that has earned him a loyal following.

“I certainly wouldn’t support that,” Ly said. “But the actions by clan leaders and clan members are out of my control.”

Hmong clan intervenes

One of the women who received such messages was Linda Vue, Ly’s former campaign manager, who had made several Facebook posts criticizing Ly for being quick to place blame on protestors. In an op-ed for the Elk Grove Tribune, Vue posted screenshots of veiled messages she received afterward that ranged from vague threats to overt menace.

The Hmong community consists of 18 clans, with each person’s clan identifiable by their last name. It’s a system that’s sometimes used to resolve conflicts, Vue said, but it’s also a system some Hmong women have said is built on a toxic, patriarchal hierarchy that can silence dissent.

“The way that the clan system works is … they’re always talking about, ‘What can we do to diffuse the situation?’” Vue said. “Diffusing the situation is telling the women, ‘Yes, your husband is wrong, but you need to suck it up.’ We call it ‘ua siab loj,’ (which means) to have a long heart, to be patient.”

Some of these messages came from someone claiming to be the “representative” of the Vue clan in Sacramento. The person claimed to have received a request from Ly’s clan to ask Vue to delete her posts because Ly “complained” about them.

To Vue, this is a sign that Ly directed someone from his clan to ask her to delete her posts. The process of conflict resolution in the Hmong clan system, Vue said, only begins once someone makes a direct complaint to a clan leader.

“It’s always initiated by someone with a complaint and a request for action,” Vue said. “They would never have approached me or had the idea … without Steve inserting some of that pressure.”

Ly claimed that although he is a mayor and a major figure in the Hmong community, the actions of his clan are “out of my control.”

“It’s not directed by me,” Ly said. “I don’t have that type of ability or power within the Hmong community.”

However, Ly acknowledged he had been in communication with the clans over a Facebook comment made by Vue that he believed was a “malicious” dig at his personal life. The comment upset him enough to consider legal action, but the clans asked him to allow them an opportunity to intervene, Ly said.

But when asked if the clan system was the proper venue to deal with detractors, given that Ly is a public official, Ly seemed to contradict himself and said he “wouldn’t support that.”

The day after Vue’s op-ed was published, Ly released a statement condemning the actions of “individuals” against “local women.” Ly added that he was supporting a police investigation into threats made against Dr. Jacqueline “Jax” Cheung, editor in chief and owner of the Elk Grove Tribune, but made no mention of Vue.

Vue said she believes his response to her claims, both as a public official and a member of a Hmong clan, is insufficient.

“His response is the continuation of his failure to take ownership of how he was responsible for these incidents, how they were played out,” Vue said.

Vue voiced her concerns again during public comment at the most recent City Council meeting last Wednesday.

“I received a text threatening me because some of the words I stated about you on my Facebook. I want everyone else working with you to know that is not acceptable,” Vue said during the remote meeting. “That is not acceptable for a mayor to send people to threaten voters when they have a concern.”

Critics blocked on Twitter

Staci Anderson said being blocked on Twitter was not unexpected. She runs Neighbors Ensuring Stonelake Transparency, or NEST, a community group formed in opposition to a hospital project that’s being championed by the mayor.

Their website is filled with blog posts critical of Ly and the 400-bed “medical city” planned by California Northstate University. In her eyes, posting on Twitter about Ly’s hasty comments about the protest was no different.

“Immediately after, we were blocked,” Anderson said. “As of that moment, was the last time we were able to access his account.”

Daisy Hughes, another activist with the group NEST, was blocked on Twitter, too, after she re-posted an image of Ly’s statement about the auto shop fire. She said it was evidence that he wanted to bury the comments about the protest, which became more apparent after she read the Elk Grove Tribune op-ed.

“Mayor Ly is acting inappropriately if you believe the story in the Elk Grove Tribune,” said Hughes, a resident of 10 years. “Based on what happened to me, I feel like it’s more credible that what she experienced really happened. I think he does not want there to be negative publicity about him.”

Hours after Ly was interviewed by The Bee on Tuesday, both accounts were unblocked.

The case law on public officials blocking people on social media is not settled, but many judges have found the action violates the First Amendment of the Constitution, which protects free speech. Federal courts in New York and Virginia have ruled that elected officials create a “public forum” when using social media to interact with the public, according to the First Amendment Coalition.

Therefore, denying citizens access to the forum deprives them of their rights.

Ly said it was not his decision to block people.

“There are a number of people that manage my social media,” Ly said. “The instruction — and it’s clear from my point of view — is that nobody should be blocked. The last direction that I gave was to unblock everyone.”

This story was originally published July 3, 2020 at 5:00 AM.