- “When its president engages in racist messaging and his colleagues remain silent, what message does that send to Californians of color? What message does that send to defense attorneys, judges, and to the public who are told to trust the system’s fairness?” – Tracie Olson, President of the California Public Defenders Association
SACRAMENTO – The California Public Defenders Association is condemning what it describes as racist and anti-Muslim public messaging by San Luis Obispo County District Attorney and California District Attorneys Association President Dan Dow, after Dow shared posts on social media linking New York City’s newly-elected first Muslim mayor to the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The controversy first surfaced after reporting by the San Luis Obispo Tribune, followed by statewide reporting from the Los Angeles Times. The Vanguard also initially covered the public backlash, calls for accountability, and concerns from legal advocates and community organizations following Dow’s online activity.
The California Public Defenders Association said Dow’s conduct reflects a pattern of prejudice incompatible with his public role as a prosecutor and raises serious concerns under state anti-discrimination law governing prosecutorial conduct.
“District attorneys hold immense authority in people’s lives and in a community,” said Kate Chatfield, Executive Director of the California Public Defenders Association. “When that authority is exercised by someone who publicly expresses racial, religious, or gender-based bias, it endangers both individual rights and the integrity of the justice system itself.”
The organization said the California Racial Justice Act was written to prohibit discriminatory decision-making, and Dow’s public messaging calls into question whether individuals prosecuted by his office can trust his neutrality. The association said it is deeply troubling that no other prosecutor in California has publicly rebuked Dow’s conduct.
“CDAA represents 3500 prosecutors from across California—people who wield life-changing power over the communities they serve,” said Tracie Olson, President of the California Public Defenders Association. “CDAA trains prosecutors all over the state. When its president engages in racist messaging and his colleagues remain silent, what message does that send to Californians of color? What message does that send to defense attorneys, judges, and to the public who are told to trust the system’s fairness?”
Dow’s posts included retweets of viral right-wing social media accounts showing footage of planes crashing into the World Trade Center and images of the burning towers, shared alongside commentary attacking New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. Critics said the messaging intentionally invoked the September 11 attacks to target Mamdani’s Muslim faith.
In an email to The Los Angeles Times, Dow denied targeting Muslims and said his objections were political. “I shared the posts because, in my opinion, Mamdani is going to destroy New York, being a self-proclaimed socialist,” he wrote. “I support the Muslim community and have strong ties to our Muslim community in San Luis Obispo.”
Muslim civil rights groups have rejected the explanation and are demanding accountability.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations Los Angeles chapter called for an apology and an independent investigation into Dow’s conduct. CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush told The Times that Dow’s messaging reflects “the deeply rooted dehumanization and fearmongering in this country that American Muslims have had to endure for decades.”
Members of the San Luis Obispo community, including some who previously considered themselves allies of Dow, have also spoken out. One local physician who identified himself as a Muslim community member told the Tribune the posts were dangerous and left local Muslim residents feeling targeted.
Local elected officials also weighed in. San Luis Obispo Mayor Erica Stewart criticized the conduct in a written statement to the Times, saying, “Dan Dow, as the county’s District Attorney, by definition, should be objective and fair. For someone in his position to express racism is unacceptable.”
Not all responses condemned Dow. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer defended him, saying, “Elected officials have a platform to share their views and be judged by their constituents.”
Editorial boards have also publicly responded. The San Luis Obispo Tribune editorial board wrote that Dow’s conduct crossed a line by amplifying content that tied a Muslim public official to terrorism and said the behavior “is clearly bigotry based on his Muslim religion, not his progressive politics.”
The Tribune added, “Posting a get-out-of-jail-free disclaimer at the top of your own social media page does not absolve you of responsibility for spreading blatantly racist messaging there. Nor does hiding behind your military career. … We would not expect [a] voice to be amplified by an elected district attorney who has a duty to treat every one of his SLO County constituents fairly, regardless of religion.”
The California Public Defenders Association said the lack of response from prosecutorial leadership statewide signals tolerance of discriminatory rhetoric from individuals who hold the power to detain, charge, prosecute, and sentence people.
The group said the silence raises concerns about whether communities historically affected by disparate policing and prosecution can rely on prosecutorial leaders to police bias within their own ranks.
The association said Dow’s conduct and the legal community’s reaction will remain a statewide concern until prosecutors acknowledge the harm caused by his messaging or take action to address it.
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Democrats are all up in arms about Dow’s retweet but look the other way when they elected DA Jay Jones in Virginia who wrote this:
“In August 2022, Jones texted Republican House Delegate Carrie Coyner about how Gilbert deserved to be shot in the head.
“Three people, two bullets,” read a text from Jones, obtained by The Post, and first-reported by National Review.
“Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot,” the former member of the Virginia House of Delegates continued. “Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.”
Jones proceeded to call Coyner during their text exchange and reportedly doubled down, suggesting that he wished Gilbert’s wife could watch her children die, to perhaps change the former House speaker’s political views.
“You weren’t trying to understand,” Coyner texted Jones after she reportedly hung up on him. “You were talking about hoping Jennifer Gilbert’s children would die.”
The Democratic AG candidate responded: “Yes, I’ve told you this before. Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.”
“I mean do I think Todd and Jennifer are evil? And that they’re breeding little fascists? Yes,” Jones wrote.”
https://nypost.com/2025/10/16/us-news/virginia-ag-candidate-jay-jones-ripped-for-promoting-plan-to-keep-children-safe/