Downey City Council member Mario Trujillo is no stranger to controversy, but his latest scandal may be the one that defines his political career, and possibly ends it.
A longtime ally and former advisor to embattled District Attorney George Gascón, Trujillo has cultivated a reputation as a partisan brawler, a lightning rod on the council dais, and a symbol of L.A. County’s toxic political divide. But when he took to Instagram on September 10, 2025, and posted “No one mourns the wicked” after the targeted killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, outrage erupted across Downey and beyond.
Trujillo’s post, a Broadway lyric repurposed in the wake of Kirk’s death, was widely condemned as celebratory mockery of a political assassination. Screenshots spread like wildfire, with activists and residents accusing him of reveling in the murder of a Christian conservative. By the next day, the account @EndWokeness had blasted the screenshot across X, where it was viewed over 890,000 times in less than 24 hours.
Calls for his resignation poured in. One commenter summed up the public disgust with a blunt demand: “This pendejo needs to be fired!” posted over Trujillo’s photo at the council dais.
Inside City Hall, outrage turned into official complaints. An anonymous source described calling the City Manager’s office:
“This morning, I contacted the Downey City Manager’s office to express my concerns regarding a recent post by Council member Mario Trujillo. In his post, he appeared to celebrate and advocate for a public execution, referencing Charlie Kirk, and labeled Kirk as ‘wicked’ due to his Christian beliefs.
I expressed my desire to file a formal grievance and was informed that my comments would be recorded without the need for personal identification. The City Manager’s receptionist emphasized that ‘Council member Trujillo’s views are his own and do not represent the city.’
I respectfully disagreed, stating that as an elected official, his public statements do reflect on the city and the constituents he serves. Elected officials are held to a different standard than private citizens.
I was thanked for my feedback and told it will be forwarded to the City Manager and the council.”
The complaint gets to the heart of the matter: Trujillo is not a private citizen. His words, his votes, and his conduct are inseparable from his office.
The Damage Cannot be Undone
By Thursday afternoon, the firestorm had become uncontainable. Trujillo deleted the post and attempted damage control with a statement from his official council account:
“I want to be absolutely clear: I do not condone any form of violence, whether political or otherwise. Free speech, a cornerstone of our democracy, should never, under any circumstances, lead to someone’s death. I stand united in condemning violence, regardless of who it targets or where it comes from.”
But the words rang hollow. Hours earlier, he had amplified a message that looked like a celebration of murder. The cleanup read less like leadership and more like a panicked attempt at political survival.
Putting Loyalty Over Public Safety
For critics, this scandal is only the latest in a long pattern. Trujillo has consistently carried water for George Gascón, defending the DA’s most controversial reforms even when Downey’s City Council joined dozens of other cities in a no-confidence vote. Residents have accused him of placing loyalty to Gascón above public safety, and his combative stint as mayor cemented his image as arrogant, tone-deaf, and dismissive of accountability.
The “wicked” post didn’t just confirm those suspicions, it crystallized them. Trujillo’s political instincts don’t serve his city; they serve his ego and his alliances.
Guilty by Association
Equally glaring is the silence from L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna following Kirk’s assassination. Luna proudly swore Trujillo in as mayor on December 14, 2023, an appointment that symbolized the tight-knit circle between Gascón’s allies and county power brokers. Earlier in the year, Luna publicly credited Gascón as a mentor, recalling how he sought him out two decades ago as a young Latino officer and attributing his rise to sheriff to Gascón’s guidance.
Now, with Trujillo under fire for mocking a political murder, Luna has said nothing. The same man who elevated Trujillo into mayoral office stands silent as his ally embarrasses a city already scarred by crime, corruption, and broken trust.
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