Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has publicly condemned current Sheriff Robert Luna, calling for his resignation amidst the controversy of a now deleted social media post made by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.
The controversial post made by the Sheriff’s Department, shared on June 23, 2025 offered condolences for Iran with the following sentiment “Our hearts go out to the victims and families impacted by the recent bombings in Iran.” The post even calls the U.S. actions in Iran Saturday – which destroyed three Iranian nuclear facilities – a "tragic event."
The original post, shared on X and Facebook, was edited to remove the condolence message after backlash for being “offensive and inappropriate.” The department later deleted the post entirely on X, though it remains on Facebook.
In response to the backlash, the sheriff’s department issued an apology stating “We formally apologize for an offensive and inappropriate social media post regarding the ongoing conflict in Iran. This post was unacceptable, made in error, and does not reflect the views of Sheriff Robert G. Luna or the Department.”
Villanueva, Luna’s predecessor, quickly criticized the apology and condemned Sheriff Luna stating “Luna, it’s YOU who needs to apologize and resign for volunteering to be the puppet of the @LACountyBOS and destroy the @LASDHQ.”
This incident adds to prior controversies involving Lunas. In 2020, for example, Luna faced sharp criticism for mishandling a protest in Long Beach, California related to Black Lives Matter, which led to several business vulnerable to looting.