Downey files restraining order against vulgar critic

The city of Downey has filed a restraining order against regular gadfly Armando Herman.

DOWNEY – The City of Downey has filed a temporary restraining order against regular gadfly Armando Herman.

Under the court order, Herman is to stay 100 yards from Mayor Claudia M. Frometa, Mayor Pro Tem Mario Trujillo, and Councilmembers Hector Sosa and Timothy Horn, as well as refrain from contacting, threatening, or harassing them.

He is still able to participate in City Council meetings by submitting written comments in accordance with the city’s meeting rules.

The two parties were due in court Wednesday morning.

Herman, 56, of Hacienda Heights, is a regular antagonist at Downey and other official board meetings, known for his over-the-top behavior, name calling, and vulgar outbursts during public comment periods, which he says is protected under the First Amendment.

He took the city to court in 2017 after being tossed out by then Mayor Fernando Vasquez; the case was later settled for $5,000.

In a text message to the Downey Patriot, Frometa said that “local governments, council members, and residents should not continue to be held hostage at the hands of those who wish to inflict verbal abuse, personal threats, anti-Semitic and hateful speech in the name of the First Amendment.”

“The type of threats, intimidation, and verbal assaults we have endured over the past many years cannot continue to be tolerated nor justified,” she said. “Any reasonable judge would agree this type of threatening behavior in the name of free speech is an assault on our freedoms and a threat to our personal safety.”

Herman was recently barred from attending Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor meetings for a period of three years, after officials accused him of sending vulgar, threatening emails to four of the five of its members, according to the Los Angeles Times.