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NewsGovernmentMilpitas Councilmember fears for her safety after encounter with former Vice Mayor

Milpitas Councilmember fears for her safety after encounter with former Vice Mayor

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On Wednesday, October 9, The Milpitas Beat held a Mayoral Candidate Forum in the Milpitas Library auditorium. After that forum, an incident occured that left Councilmember Hon Lien shaken and fearing for her safetyā€¦

Councilmember Lien, who is a candidate for Milpitas Mayor, stepped off the stage with the other candidates. She spoke to a few people and posed for photos.Ā 

Afterward, she was approached by former Vice Mayor Karina Dominguez, who had been listening to the forum as part of the audience. Lien told The Beat in an interview that Dominguez got real close to her and demanded to know if she was a supporter of Presidential candidate Donald Trump. Lien says Dominguez then held her phone close to her face and started to record a video.Ā 

ā€œI told her: ā€˜I donā€™t want to engage,ā€™ā€ said Councilmember Lien. ā€œā€˜I donā€™t want to talk to you.ā€™ā€Ā 

Lien then turned and tried to walk away.Ā 

ā€œI kept walking and didnā€™t respond,ā€ Lien told The Beat in an interview about the incident. ā€œAnd she was so close to me. She started following me, recording me, and shouting into my ears, ā€˜Why canā€™t you answer yes or no?ā€™ā€Ā 

All Lien could think of was getting away. She moved toward the auditoriumā€™s exit door.Ā 

Councilmember Lienā€™s campaign manager, Joseph Weinstein, was also in the room that evening. He caught wind that something was going on when he heard someone in the crowd call something out about someone ā€œgoing after Hon.ā€Ā 

Weinstein spotted Lien walking toward the exit door, with someone walking very close behind her, their arm raised toward her.Ā 

Without hesitation, Weinstein quickly moved in their direction. He wedged himself between Dominguez and Lien, and moved Lien out of the way. In the process, he bumped into Dominguez, who was still recording.Ā 

ā€œI was shaking,ā€ said Lien. ā€œAfter I heard Joseph [Weinstein] tell me to go, I walked out to the library parking lot.ā€Ā Ā 

But Weinstein stayed behind. He and Dominguez exchanged some angry words, as Dominguez held her camera up, filming the entire exchange.Ā 

ā€œThen she told me she was going to call the police,ā€ Weinstein told The Beat. ā€œAnd I said to her, ā€˜Go ahead!ā€™ I didnā€™t even understand what exactly sheā€™d be calling the police for.ā€Ā 

Dominguez was true to her word. That evening, she filed a police report stating that Weinstein had pushed her to cause physical harm. She also said she desired criminal prosecution against him.Ā Ā Ā 

However, video footage of the incident captured by another former Milpitas Vice Mayor, Marsha Grilli, who was also in attendance at the event, shows that Weinstein merely bumped into Dominguez, as he got between both women and ushered Lien to safety.

Here is the video Grilli recorded of that moment: Ā 

After the incident at the Mayoral Forum, the Milpitas Police Department took statements from Grilli, Weinstein, and Lien. After reviewing the video footage, they found that there was no evidence of any intent to physically harm.Ā 

ā€œBased on the footage, I did not see any intention of Weinstein to physically harm Dominguez during the incident,ā€ the police officer wrote in the report.Ā 

In the report, the police officer also wrote that after he viewed Grilliā€™s video footage, he reached out to Dominguez to ask her to share her own video footage from that night. But Dominguez told him that she had deleted all of it, and then said that she no longer wanted any criminal prosecution against Weinstein. She also stated that she merely had wanted to file the report for documentation purposes.Ā Ā 

The last time Dominguez filed a police report (that The Beat is aware of) was in 2022, when she told Milpitas Police that she had been receiving death threats. The police investigated the matter but deactivated the case after they could find no evidence of any threats.Ā Ā 

After the Mayoral Forum event, when he discovered that Dominguez had filed the report, Weinstein was astounded. He spoke of how heā€™d seen ā€œa personā€ holding up their hand at Honā€™s back, looking as if they were about to swing something at her. ā€œSo I came in and grabbed Hon and moved her to safety. I didnā€™t even know it was Karina who was coming after her.ā€Ā 

Weinstein only realized it was Dominguez when he heard her voice sarcastically say the words: ā€œLook at this cute couple,ā€ referring to Weinstein and Lien. (Weinstein and Lien are both married to other people.)Ā 

ā€œI was very fearful because I see this hand raised. I go and move Hon away, and then from behind me, I hear this idiotic comment. I was just stunned. And then I realized it was Karina,ā€ said Weinstein. ā€œI felt she really crossed the line.ā€Ā 

Another public confrontation Dominguez has had with Weinstein in the past was in 2019. Dominguez had mentioned to The Beat that the City of Milpitas had spent millions of dollars in litigation on sexual harassment cases ā€“ something Weinstein knew to be inaccurate. So he brought it up in public comment at a council meeting and called her out for spreading misinformation.Ā 

The Beat reached out to Marsha Grilli to ask what compelled her to record the end of the interaction that nightā€¦Ā 

ā€œWhen I saw Karina running at Hon and being extremely loud and aggressive, it concerned me. And then I saw that Hon looked panicked, like she didnā€™t know what to do,ā€ said Grilli. ā€œI heard Hon say, ā€˜Iā€™m not going to engage with you.ā€™ And Karina was screaming, ā€˜Youā€™re voting for Trump, arenā€™t you?!ā€™ā€Ā 

Though Grilli said she is not usually one to come in and start recording things, she felt she had to on this occasion; she only wished she had started recording sooner to have captured more of it.Ā 

ā€œWhat I saw was Hon just trying to escape from Karina,ā€ Grilli said. ā€œWhether we are a Democrat or a Republican, we should treat each other with respect. The attack on Hon was unacceptable.ā€Ā Ā 

At some point, according to Lien, Dominguez made her way into the library parking lot and started to aggressively approach her again. Worried that something might happen to her, Lien quickly got into her car and drove away.Ā 

ā€œI was mad and I was scared,ā€ Lien told The Beat. ā€œI drove straight home.ā€Ā Ā 

The Beat also reached out to Dominguez to get her side of the story. Dominguez, who is a Democrat, shared her take on the evening: ā€œIt is regrettable that Councilmember Hon Lien, a public official and a registered Republican, continues to deflect responsibility by refusing to address two straightforward questions I raised after the public forum. As a voting resident, I exercised my right to ask a hard question which is if she intends to vote for President Donald Trump and whether she has any undisclosed legal cases or felonies in other countries, such as Vietnam. Now those are fair questions that are critical to ask since elected officials donā€™t go through any type of background checks and the public may not have this information available.ā€Ā 

Weinstein told The Beat that whom Councilmember Lien is voting for for President is no one’s business. He also added that if you look at Lien’s voting record during her time as a Councilmember, you can’t tell whether she’s a Democrat or Republican.

When asked about any undisclosed legal cases that Dominguez was referring to, Councilmember Lien told The Beat:Ā 

ā€œShe is spreading lies out there that I evicted an old woman out of a house at this property in Vietnam,ā€ stated Lien. ā€œThatā€™s an outright lie. She has such a creative imagination.ā€Ā 

Meanwhile, though she is not running for office herself this year, Dominguez has endorsed one of Lienā€™s opponents for mayor ā€“ Councilmember Anthony Phan.Ā 

ā€œI will be endorsing Councilmember Anthony Phan for Mayor and maybe she [Hon Lien] is just upset that I will not be endorsing her. Itā€™s time to end the old political tactics in Milpitas and focus on the quality of life issues of Milpitas residents,ā€ shared Dominguez. ā€œMy suggestion to anyone running for office is getting asked hard questions is part of the job. If you donā€™t want to get asked hard questions, then donā€™t run for office.ā€Ā 

Lien is still upset about what happened, and said that she makes sure to check her surroundings every time she leaves her house.Ā 

ā€œIt is so obvious that this was a personal attack,ā€ said Lien. ā€œIt has nothing to do with the people of Milpitas. Doing what she did ā€“ she took resources away from the police officers who have real public safety issues to deal with.ā€Ā 

She also added: ā€œI hate the fact that I was attacked. It is just simply dirty. And I don’t appreciate that. The Milpitas people deserve better. Everybody should stay away from her.ā€



Paid for by Robert Jung for Milpitas School Board FPPC# 1448154spot_img
Paid for by Dipak Awasthi for Milpitas City Council FPPC# 1469123spot_img
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Paid for by Bill Chuan for Milpitas City Council 2023 FPPC#: 1467708spot_img
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Paid for by Evelyn Chua for Milpitas City Council FPPC#1470209spot_img
Paid for by Hon for Milpitas Mayor 2024 FPPC# 1464067spot_img
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14 COMMENTS

  1. I am happy and available to share with the Milpitas community why I am endorsing CM Anthony Phan. He has done so much for our community. I feel itā€™s time for a live video ! Milpitas stay tuned itā€™s time to take back our community. Your tax payer money is being wasted in litigation and Anthony has been our champion since day one . He speaks truth to power and that is what I want in a mayor . Also itā€™s Karina not Katrina šŸ˜‰ from a place of kindness and love ā¤ļø I would like to be called my name .

  2. I read in the police report you told the police officer investigating your complaint that you had deleted your videos from the library issue that you created. You have difficulty with the truth.

    • Marsha, I am sorry you are still hurt from when we ran against each other and I won in 2018. I didnā€™t run for your appointed seat to give you an opportunity to serve . Please give me the same respect. Please stop with all these lies, troll accounts , feeding the media and nonsense that doesnā€™t help our community. I am proud of all life decisions and bravery. If itā€™s anything Mtown knows is I love everyone in this community even those who are attempting to hurt me. Take care and sending you nothing but blessings .

  3. Hey Karen (Katrina). You obviously have major issue. Glad they have a video to show your lie and another attempt to waste public resources. GET A LIFE.

  4. Katerina Dominguez tried to intimidate members of the community refrain from posting about certain political topics on Nextdoor. Clearly sheā€™s never heard of the right of to free speech. The fact that someone like that was on city council and was vice mayor is SCARY. Honestly she seems like a nightmare to deal with and I understand why Lien is scared. The fact that she endorsed Pham makes me not want to vote for him. Iā€™m not at all surprised by what I read in this article.

  5. While DD will be voting for Hon and DonOLD, I will vote for Hon and Kamala.
    .
    I disagree with Mr. Weinstein “that whom Councilmember Lien is voting for for President is no oneā€™s business.” Hon is running to represent me. If she is voting for a candidate who is a convicted felon, adjudicated rapist, 6-time bankrupt businessman, compulsive liar, and destroyer of democracy, then we should know that!
    .
    While I would likely agree with Mr. Weinstein during “normal times”, these times are anything but normal.

  6. Intimidation has no place here but that said I also would like to know if any candidates are voting for Trump because that tells me about the personā€™s moral values.

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