Politician sent threatening letter filled with shocking homophobic, racist and misogynistic slurs admits he wrote it himself
Jonathan Lopez admitted to police that he had written the racist, homophobic letter (YouTube/Erembourg Dionne)
A political candidate who claimed he received a threatening letter containing “racist, homophobic, and misogynistic slurs” has admitted that he actually sent it to himself.
Jonathan Lopez, 29, recently lost his race for a commissioner seat in Umatilla County, Oregon. He said he found the hateful letter in his mailbox on June 23, after the election.
The letter, which Lopez posted to Facebook, warned that he and other “Mexicans” weren’t “welcome” in their community, KEPR-TV reported.
“Don’t waste your time trying to become anything in this county we will make sure you never win and your family suffers along with all the other f**king Mexicans in the area!” one line read.
“America is for the God fearing, pro gun, pro life humans who refuse to be controlled by the government.” The letter ends with: “Sincerely, America!”
Sharing the letter, Lopez claimed that he held “no resentment for whomever wrote this”.
“I’m just simply heartbroken for the lack of knowledge, education, and respect missing,” he wrote. “I pray for you and wish you prosperity in your life.”
Lopez later deleted the homophobic letter from social media (Facebook)
Lopez turned the letter into the Hermiston Police force, who investigated with help from Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office. Together they determined that Lopez had written and sent the letter to himself.
“From the onset, this alleged incident has been thoroughly investigated,” Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmiston wrote in an email to the East Oregonian.
“Our investigation has shown that Mr Lopez wrote the letter himself and made false statements to the police and on social media. The end result is a verbal and written admission by Mr Lopez that the letter was fabricated.”
Lopez initially stated that it was a big misunderstanding. He said that he had meant to speak with Edmiston about racism in Umatilla County as a member of Hermiston’s Hispanic Advisory Committee, using the letter as an example of the daily racism people experience.
“I never meant to file a report, it just kind of spiralled out,” he said.
The police department is now forwarding the case to the district attorney’s office to review charges of a false report, a Class A misdemeanour in Oregon.
