The man was arrested for allegedly assaulting a protestor at her town hall event last year
California Rep. Katie Porter reportedly criticized the Irvine Police Department after authorities arrested a man she lived with for allegedly assaulting a man at one of her town hall events, according to Fox News Digital. The man, Julian Willis, supposedly punched a protestor at the town hall, resulting in the protestor having a bloody nose.
Fox News Digital recently obtained text messages from Porter to Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan following the event.
“Your police force is a disgrace,” Porter reportedly said.
Irvine Police arrested Willis after the alleged attack and gave him a citation. Porter, at the time, said her feelings toward the Irvine PD had changed forever due to the incident.
“I will never trust them again,” Porter said.
Porter spokesperson Jordan Wong told Fox News Digital in a statement that the Congresswoman “was upset that a planned family-friendly town hall was hijacked by extremists, who made constituents feel unsafe, including using hateful slurs in front of children.”
The altercation had broken out between Porter’s own supporters and supporters of former President Donald Trump. The incident had caused Porter to talk to media, claiming the event had triggered memories of January 6th.
Wong said that the Congresswoman was “disappointed” in the preparation of law enforcement that day.
“She was disappointed that despite our staff alerting police days before the event that the extremists were openly advertising their intention to disrupt the town hall, officers on the day of the incident were hundreds of feet away and did not intervene immediately when fighting broke out,” Wong said.
“Since then, Rep. Porter and our office have worked productively with the Irvine Police Department, including the Congresswoman hosting the new police chief in her office for a constructive and cooperative meeting,” Wong explained.
Porter is currently running for re-election to the House of Representatives this November with her new district including Huntington Beach.
