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Two weeks after the Facebook page Benito Beet Beat posted what some county officials consider a troubling cartoon, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted on Nov. 18 to subpoena Meta Platforms—the owner of Facebook—to identify the people behind the account.
The purpose for seeking that information, County Counsel Gregory Priamos said, is to pursue a restraining order against those individuals, after the cartoon showed a person saying they felt the “need to hurt a supervisor or his kids.”
The post, Priamos told the board, “wasn’t an implied threat, but an overt threat against the safety of our supervisors and their families.”
He added that a criminal investigation is underway, and that the county had initiated its own effort to figure out who runs the page.
In a staff report, Priamos cited sections of the California Penal Code which state it is a crime to threaten to hurt or kill elected officials.
“There is no question that the actions of those responsible for this post are deplorable, disgusting, repulsive, and reflect a severe depravity of character,” the report said. “These actions simply have no place in public discourse and are highly irresponsible.”
After the cartoon was published on Nov. 3, Supervisors Ignacio Velazquez, Kollin Kosmicki and Dom Zanger said they felt threatened and wanted to take action against it.
“It’s not satire, it’s hate speech, it’s criminal and it’s threatening,” Kosmicki said at the Nov. 18 Board of Supervisors meeting. “My family felt threatened, and I would like to pursue finding out who they are so that we can file a restraining order so that I feel more comfortable in my home.”
After posting the cartoon, Benito Beet Beat then edited it, then removed it, and then published an apology on Nov. 4.
“While our intention was to use satire to highlight civic issues, we recognize that the cartoon image was misconstrued by some as advocating for violence. That was never our aim,” the apology read. “We deeply regret any distress this may have caused.”
On Nov. 17, Benito Beet Beat posted another cartoon, this time saying the three supervisors had declared “a war on satire,” and “weaponized” the county counsel.
All five supervisors supported issuing the subpoena.
“Any time elected officials or their family members are being threatened, I think we have to take it seriously,” Supervisor Angela Curro said. “If we don’t stand together on this one, I see it as being a major challenge for future elected officials. We cannot have threats in our community.”
Priamos told the board that federal law requires Meta to respond to an administrative subpoena such as the one the county issued.
“This is a valid administrative subpoena,” he said. “It remains to be seen whether they will comply.”
Meta has been asked to appear before the Board of Supervisors on Dec. 2, which is not a regularly scheduled meeting, though Priamos said the company could provide the information before then. If that happens, he said, there wouldn’t need to be a meeting that day.
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