Los Angeles Time - 08.08.2019

CALIFORNIA

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2019:: LATIMES.COM/CALIFORNIA

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LOS BANOS, Calif. —
Rep. Josh Harder’s oppo-
nents have called him a
“shady venture capitalist”
and “rabid socialist extrem-
ist” who only cares about
“big donors and socialist
Democrats in San Fran-
cisco.”
But last weekend,
dressed in shirtsleeves and
rubber waders, the fresh-
man Democratic congress-

man from Turlock tried to

buck that image. Harder

sloshed through waist-deep

muddy water in 90-degree

heat as he accompanied

state wildlife officials to

check animal traps for signs

of nutria. The invasive

swamp rats have taken up

residence in his Central Val-

ley congressional district,

threatening to damage lev-

ees, disrupt the state’s water

supply and knock the Sacra-

mento-San Joaquin River

Delta ecosystem out of bal-

ance.

“Trap One is empty!”

Harder called out after

watching one of his tour

guides fiddle with a small

metal cage.

TREADINGthe wetlands, Rep. Josh Harder (D-Turlock), right, is working to eradicate nutria that damage
waterways and crops, and to buck the image opponents have painted of him as a Bay Area carpetbagger.

Photographs by Tomas OvalleFor The Times

This congressman wages

war on delta swamp rats

Once bred for fur, the

rodents called nutria

threaten the state’s

wetlands ecosystem.

INVASIVE and destructive, nutria imperil the frag-

ile Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta balance.

By Christine Mai-Duc

[SeeSwamp rats,B4]

A man fatally stabbed

four people and wounded

two others during a two-

hour string of crimes

Wednesday in Garden Grove

and Santa Ana, police said.

The crimes apparently

started as robberies and

evolved into a series of stab-

bings at multiple locations,

according to police, who on

Wednesday evening were

trying to get the man to ex-

plain what had unfolded.

Authorities said the man

and all of his victims were

Latino.

Garden Grove Police Lt.

Carl Whitney said the mo-

tive appeared to be robbery,

as well as anger and hate. Po-

lice said there was no indica-

tion that the attacks were

racially motivated.

“These were random acts

of violence — our suspect

was not involved with any of

the victims,” Whitney said at

a news conference.

The violence came just

days after a gunman killed

22 people at a Walmart in El

Paso on Saturday, leaving a

manifesto vowing to kill “as

many Mexicans as possible.”

On Sunday, a gunman

killed nine people in Dayton,

Ohio.

The FBI has opened a do-

mestic terrorism case in the

El Paso shooting as well as

one in Gilroy, Calif., on July

28 that left three people

dead.

The suspect in the Or-

ange County stabbings was

not identified. Officers ar-

rested him at a 7-Eleven in

Santa Ana after spotting his

car, authorities said.

When the man came out-

side the convenience store,

he had a handgun that he

had taken from the store’s

security guard and a knife,

police said. He put them

both on the ground before he

was arrested.

The violence began early

Wednesday evening, when

authorities say the man

stabbed and killed two men

at the apartment complex

where the suspect also lived

in the 12100 block of Jentges

Avenue in Garden Grove.

Next, the man robbed a

nearby check-cashing busi-

ness but didn’t harm anyone

there, according to police.

He then tried to rob the Best

One Insurance Agency at

12843 Harbor Blvd. in Gar-

den Grove about 6:05 p.m.

Inside, he attacked a 54-

year-old employee, con-

fronting her with a machete-

style knife, Whitney said.

Man kills

four, injures

two in O.C.

stabbings

Police say the attacker

and all of his victims

are Latino, but suggest

that robbery, not race,

was the motive.

By Jaclyn Cosgrove,

Louis Sahagun

and Richard Winton

[SeeStabbings, B4]

Gov. Gavin Newsom pro-

posed Wednesday to spend

California’s share of a na-

tional mortgage settlement

on legal assistance for strug-

gling homeowners and rent-

ers, funds that lawmakers il-

legally diverted in 2014 to

help erase the state’s budget

deficit.

The governor’s an-

nouncement of the effort at

an event in Los Angeles

came as a surprise to the

community groups that

sued the state, who said they

had wanted to help craft

plans for the money. And the

leader of one group was

skeptical that the money

would be used as promised.

Newsom unveiled the

broad outlines of a plan to

deposit $331 million, the

amount originally set aside

for statewide homeowner

help, into a trust fund that

would pay for legal services

to help those Californians.

The fund would also assist

renters in need of legal ad-

vice. The governor said his

plan will require approval by

the Legislature before it ad-

journs for the year next

month and is long overdue

for those affected by the

business practices of power-

ful mortgage lending com-

panies.

“The idea that human be-

ings could take advantage of

other human beings at this

level and go to bed at night

and hug their kids is rather

extraordinary in and of it-

self,” Newsom said at a news

conference held at Public

Counsel, a Los Angeles legal

aid clinic. “Those that aspire

to get into [the middle class]

are being slammed, because

we had been unable to pro-

duce enough housing, to

prevent evictions and fore-

closures and unscrupulous

[SeeLegal aid, B4]

Lawsuit

payout

could go

to help

evicted

Homeowners would

also get help under

Newsom’s plan for

mortgage settlement.

By John Myers

and Benjamin Oreskes

After Michael Gargiulo

was arrested in 2008, Los An-

geles County sheriff ’s de-

tectives placed the accused

killer in a jail cell with two

undercover deputies.

In conversations that

were recorded, Gargiulo told

them that he’d looked up se-

rial killers, referencing Ted

Bundy and Ed Gein. He hid

shims in his waistband that

he planned to use to break

out of his handcuffs, he told

his cellmates. He tried to

come up with different ex-

planations for a piece of evi-

dence cops had against him.

At one point, Gargiulo

asked the undercover offi-

cers, “How would you ex-

plain it to the jury?”

A prosecutor recounted

those jailhouse conversa-

tions during closing argu-

ments this week in Gargiu-

lo’s murder trial on charges

that he thrill killed two wom-

en and attempted to kill a

third in knife attacks in the

Los Angeles area from 2001

to 2008. He has pleaded not

guilty.

“That’s Michael Gargiulo

trying to fool each and every

one of you,” Deputy Dist.

Atty. Garrett Dameron told

a jury hearing the death pen-

alty case in a downtown

courtroom.

Gargiulo showed little

emotion as Dameron spoke,

watching the screen as the

prosecutor flipped through

dozens of slides that in-

cluded crime scene photos.

Sometimes he whispered to

his attorney or took notes.

He shook his head for a mo-

ment when one of his attor-

neys was addressing the

judge at the bench.

Gargiulo’s trial, which

just entered its fourth

month, has drawn national

attention because of its sen-

sational details and celebri-

ty connection. One of the vic-

tims, Ashley Ellerin, was set

to go out with actor Ashton

ACCUSED KILLER Michael Gargiulo sits in court during closing arguments in

his trial in the slayings of two women and the attempted killing of a third.

Al SeibLos Angeles Times

‘Coldblooded attacks’

Attorneys give closing

arguments in the

serial-murder trial of

Michael Gargiulo.

By Alene

Tchekmedyian

[SeeGargiulo,B5]

Americans say
they want
meaningful
national gun
controls. But
they don’t want
them badly
enough — or
they’d already
have them.
This is what I mean:
Sure, voters tell pollsters
Congress should pass legis-
lation to toughen up back-
ground checks on gun buy-
ers. Most even want to ban
military-style assault weap-
ons.
But gun control is far
down the list of voters’
priorities. Many other policy
issues rank higher: immi-
gration, jobs, schools, cli-
mate change....
So after every shooting

massacre, when more inno-

cent people are murdered

by some wacko with a fire-

arm designed for mass

killing, there’s tough talk,

screaming and flailing for a

few days. Then everyone

calms down and snoozes

until the next slaughter.

Politicians — mainly

Republicans and moderate

Democrats in Congress —

don’t feel constant pressure

from gun control support-

ers. These voters have been

firing with cap pistols.

But the other side is

rigidly committed. The gun

zealots — those mesmerized

by the power of firearms —

tend to be “single-issue”

voters who are inspired by

the National Rifle Assn.

Their No. 1 litmus test for

any candidate is the politi-

cian’s position on gun

rights.

CAPITOL JOURNAL

To change gun

laws, voters

have to change

GEORGE SKELTON
in sacramento

[SeeSkelton,B6]

Activist wins

court approval

for pardon

Former inmate Susan

Burton now helps other

incarcerated women

make the transition

back into society. B

‘Guru of Doo

Doo’ dies at 77

Tim Dundon was

known for his massive

Altadena compost pile

— his contribution to a

better world. B

Lottery.........................B