Police question LA mayoral candidate about threats against opponent

Zuma Dogg (Photo: LAist)

The Los Angeles mayoral race on Tuesday’s ballot is really a 10-candidate uncontested campaign for incumbent Antonio Villaraigosa. The mayor’s opponents largely lack name recognition and money, and little newsprint has even been dedicated to covering the campaigns.

But that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been drama. At least, there was plenty of it last night when L.A. police questioned David “Zuma Dogg” Saltsburg, a City Hall gadfly and sometimes journalist, about whether he made a death threat against another candidate.

That other candidate would be Craig X Rubin, the Reagan Republican and former pot pastor who revealed his candidacy on The God Blog last fall. You may remember Rubin as the founder of Temple 420, a house of worship that used cannabis as a sacrament for communicating with God. The church landed Rubin in court, though he avoided jail time.

Here is what Rubin, now a pastor at The Family Church in Pasadena, claims happened:

Rubin said he believes it all began during a forum at UCLA on Wednesday when Saltsburg stormed out. Saltsburg apparently thought that Rubin and another candidate were mocking his comments embracing W. Edwards Deming’s 14-point management philosophy.

“I don’t know where the anger came from,” Rubin said.

Rubin called police and officers came to his home in the San Fernando Valley, where he filed a formal complaint.

“As a pastor, I felt kind of conflicted about it,” Rubin said. “You know, turn the other check. But I really did feel threatened.”

Zuma Dogg denies threatening Rubin. Fortunately, the controversy isn’t likely to cost him the election. The video after the jump—maybe: