Former Antioch Mayor Says He Expects to Be Indicted by Trump DOJ
A former Antioch mayor said Wednesday that he expects the U.S. Department of Justice to indict him as part of a federal investigation, which he described as politically motivated.
Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe, a progressive politician who led the Contra Costa County city from 2020 to 2024, said in a video statement that his attorneys have turned over documents requested by federal investigators.
“For nearly six years I have lived under the weight of political attacks and relentless public scrutiny,” Hernandez-Thorpe said in the three-and-a-half-minute video. “I want you to hear something from me before you hear it from anyone else. It is my understanding that the Trump Justice Department intends to seek an indictment against me.”
Hernandez-Thorpe did not directly address what the investigation might be about, but spoke about the “difficult issues” his administration handled in office, including leading police department reform after a massive corruption and civil rights scandal, managing the COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest of 2020 and becoming the first city to issue a public apology for anti-Chinese policies and destruction of its Chinatown in the 1870s.
“Those efforts were not always popular,” he said. “But I believed in my heart that they were the necessary changes that we needed.”
Hernandez-Thorpe’s term, which ended after a failed 2024 reelection bid, was not without controversy.
The former mayor faced a recall campaign during his first year in office, launched by a group of Antioch residents concerned about what they described as a lack of support for the city’s police department and disrespecting council members during disagreements, among other issues. The effort failed to garner enough signatures to qualify for the November 2022 ballot.
In 2021, Hernandez-Thorpe was accused of sexually harassing an employee while serving as the executive director of the Los Medanos Community Healthcare District, according to an investigation report published by the Bay Area News Group. In 2022, he pled no contest to a misdemeanor DUI charge.
Hernandez-Thorpe is one of a number of East Bay political figures who have been embroiled in federal investigations in recent years.
Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and the operators of the city’s recycling contractor are set to go to trial this fall for their roles in a large-scale corruption scheme, and former San Leandro Councilmember Bryan Azevedo pled guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud charges in February. The FBI also raided multiple Contra Costa County officials’ homes in 2025 and 2026, including that of former Tax Assessor Gus Kramer, whose tenure was dogged by questionable assessments, real estate deals and use of gift deeds to acquire property in the county.
The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment.