Last week, a San Francisco Bay area man was convicted of threatening the life of gay state Sen. Scott Wiener (D).
In January, 51-year-old Erik Triana of San Ramon, California sent a message to Wiener via the senator’s constituent website that stated: “Vax my kids without my permission and expect a visit from me and my rifle.”
Triana signed the threat “Amendment, Second” and listed his address as the Moscone Center in San Francisco. He was charged in April.
A jury in Contra Costa County convicted the father of three of the threat on Wiener’s life, two counts of possessing assault weapons, two counts of manufacturing or assembling unregistered firearms, and two counts of having a concealed firearm in his vehicle. He was found not guilty of making a criminal threat of death or great bodily injury.
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Triana is scheduled to be sentenced on September 29.
In a statement following the verdict, Wiener, who represents San Francisco in the California Senate, said: “I’m deeply grateful to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office, California Highway Patrol, and the court system for taking this death threat — and my personal safety — seriously, and for seeking accountability.”
“Death threats against public officials undermine democracy. A public official should make decisions based on what benefits the community, not based on whether a decision will get the official killed. Modern politics can be polarized and toxic, but we must never normalize or tolerate death threats.”
In June, Wiener was the subject of another threat, sent via email, that accused the senator of pedophilia and warned him bombs had been planted in his home and senate office. He was threatened he would “die today.” No devices were discovered.
Prosecutors linked Triana’s threat in January to a bill Wiener had introduced in Sacramento days before that would have allowed minors 15 and older to seek medical care, including the COVID vaccine, without their parents’ permission. Wiener withdrew the bill shortly after for lack of support.
Police traced Triana’s message to a computer he used at work in Pleasanton, south of his home in San Ramon in San Francisco’s East Bay. In addition to the computer, a search warrant turned up an unregistered AR-15 assault weapon, nine loaded magazines, and a 9-mm ghost gun.
At the trial in September, Wiener testified that he took Triana’s threat more seriously than the thousands of others he’s received because Triana was local and he referenced the Moscone Center, named for George R. Moscone, the mayor of San Francisco who was shot and killed along with gay supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978.
