Santa Ana council debate over police turns personal for Amezcua and Hernandez

A Santa Ana City Council debate over police boiled over into a personal shouting match between Mayor Valerie Amezcua and Councilman Johnathan Hernandez, captured in a roughly 97-second clip Juice Unlocked posted Oct. 21. It has been viewed more than 149,000 times.

Amezcua opened by saying she gets blamed for anything involving police, then accused Hernandez and another council member of using every opportunity to go after officers. She then brought up Hernandez calling 911 when people came to his property, and the exchange spiraled from there.

What was said

Hernandez fired back that people came to his house to assault him and his mother, saying her ankle was broken and that police tried to "politicize" his mom being the victim. He called a point of order and told the mayor to keep his family out of it. The mayor replied that she was not "playing with your family."

When Hernandez asked whether she had called 911 too, Amezcua said she did and had "no problem" doing so. In June 2025, Amezcua said at a council meeting that someone had tried to assault her at her home, and police confirmed they were investigating, NBC Los Angeles reported.

Near the end of the clip, a voice that appears to be Hernandez's accuses colleagues of taking police money while council members repeatedly call for the vote and a substitute motion is raised. The clip does not show what the motion was or how the vote went.

“Anything that has to do with police, you know, I get blamed for it. And I'll take it.”

Why police keep splitting this council

The clip surfaced as the department faces scrutiny over a viral Oct. 1 video showing a Santa Ana officer repeatedly punching resident Florentino Lopez in the head during an arrest, according to Voice of OC. On Oct. 6, the council voted unanimously to hire an independent investigator and to release the officers' names and body camera footage if it is legally determined great bodily injury occurred.

At that meeting Hernandez said "police should not investigate police." He also said officers who think they can "brutalize Santa Ana residents" deserve to be fired, Voice of OC reported. Santa Ana Police Officers Association President John Kachirisky later criticized council members who called for officers to be fired before the internal process finished, calling such statements "inappropriate."

The tension goes back further. Three officers filed separate complaints accusing Hernandez of creating a hostile workplace and referring to them online as murderers. The council was told the complaints were not sustained, according to Voice of OC. Hernandez denied the allegations and called the investigation politically motivated.

Money is part of the picture too. The police union spent more than $50,000 against Hernandez's 2024 reelection campaign and more than $98,000 supporting Amezcua's 2024 reelection as mayor, Voice of OC reported.

“You want to talk about people coming to my house to assault me and my mom? My mom's ankle got broken.”

“Keep my family's name out of your mouth.”

What’s next

The independent investigation into the Oct. 1 arrest of Florentino Lopez is to report back to the City Council, according to Voice of OC. No date has been announced.