Antioch’s First Black Consciousness Conference Calls for Unity and Representation See Pg. 9
Community News, Youth Voices
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Spring 2026
These Local Officials Shared Controversial Posts on Social Media. Does It Really Matter?
Antioch Police Oversight Commission Chair Porshe Taylor, left, Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez and Joe Mitchell, formerly of the APOC, have stirred controversy on social media. (Taylor, Martinez and Mitchell: Screenshots by Samantha Kennedy; graphic by Denis Perez-Bravo / The CC Pulse)
conspiracy theories on their personal social media accounts?'
BY SAMANTHA KENNEDY
I
n both East and West Contra Costa County, social media posts by public officials have triggered backlash, defense and debate. Over the past year, posts shared by officials have tested how communities respond when harm is acknowledged, but consequences remain uncertain. Porshe Taylor, the current chair of the Antioch Police Oversight Commission, and Joe Mitchell, a former commissioner, were two of three public officials in Contra Costa County who have reposted conspiracy theories, misinformation or other content some considered controversial. Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez was the third. All three ultimately avoided formal consequences. Taylor was reappointed. Mitchell successfully defended himself against claims. Martinez dodged a censure but, in his current bid for reelection, failed to gain the endorsement of his local progressive group, which may have taken the posts into consideration. For some, those outcomes feel appropriate. For others, they raise a deeper question: Should public officials face consequences for spreading
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EAST COUNTY A few months before his appointment, Mitchell shared a video that claims the media pushed the deaths of George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor and Michael Brown as “racial hoaxes” meant to “drive a narrative to make you hate America …” The video also falsely claimed Floyd died from a fentanyl overdose and said Martin “was about that life” and “effed around and found out” that George Zimmerman was armed. Mitchell said he viewed the video as commentary on media bias. “It almost seems as though there’s a lot of agendas out there,” Mitchell said. Taylor said she didn’t agree with the views in that video and that they were biased toward several groups of people. “I think the goal of the vetting for them was to have people in place that represented all different types,” she said. “I do believe that people should have their choices in regards to their health care decisions, but I also believe that in any kind of professional setting, there should be a level of decorum,” she said. Since 2020, Taylor has reposted videos and articles that spread misinformation
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about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines. “If you or your kids are putting these shots in your body, you need to detox,” states one video that advertises a heavy metal detox claiming to remove the supposed effects of vaccines and autism. “Injecting foreign things in kids (sic) arms is not building immunity, it’s compromised it,” the caption on the video states. “None of those things are true,” said Dr. John Swartzberg, professor emeritus of UC Berkeley School of Public Health’s Infectious Disease division. Ahead of his appointment last year, Mitchell was accused of sharing racist, anti-immigrant, homophobic and antivaccine content on Facebook. He told Antioch City Council members those claims were “not true.” In 2023, several Antioch police officers were found to have shared racist text messages, spurring indictments and calls for reform. The oversight commission was created as part of those reforms. Council members did not respond to requests to comment on posts shared by Taylor or Mitchell but reappointed Taylor last month. Oversight and Ethics Cameron McEllhiney, executive director
In Pictures: Love at First Bite: Felix Pizzas Turns an El Sobrante Parking Lot into a Pizza Destination See Pg. 4
of the National Association of Civilian Law Enforcement Oversight, said social media complicates expectations that commissioners remain unbiased. “Because it is nearly impossible to disassociate yourself in your personal life from the work that you’re doing as a volunteer board member,” she said. The organization’s Code of Ethics does not define what constitutes a violation, leaving that responsibility to local agencies. Under Antioch’s ordinance, commissioners can be removed for “violations” of the Code of Ethics, but the ordinance does not define what that means. An early draft of a local code of conduct calls for prohibiting commissioners from using social media to “undermine the City or Commission’s work, retaliate, or disparage individuals or the City.” Policies on public officials’ social media use often raise First Amendment concerns. Swartzberg said public officials have a responsibility to share accurate information. “There’s greater obligation on people who have a position of authority to be sure they’re quoting what’s known as See Controversy, pg. 6