A viral video showing Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman and Mayor Karen Bass’s police chief labeled with the words “fascist liars” has drawn scrutiny this week — and so has the man who made it.
Ed Choi, who posts under the handle @etchaskej and has built a following of nearly 800,000 people across TikTok and Instagram, interviewed Raman, who is challenging Bass in the mayoral race, in the clip that set off controversy Monday night.
In the video, Choi tells Raman that Los Angeles has become “extremely fascist, especially because Karen Bass appointed Jim McDonnell as the chief of police,” then asks her how she would “de-fascistize” the city. The two go on to say together, “Only you can stop fascist liars.” The edited video includes images of Bass and McDonnell, with a large red X placed over the police chief’s face.
Raman’s campaign has said Choi added those images after the interview was recorded, and that Raman’s comment about “fascist liars” was meant to refer to ICE and the Trump administration, not Bass or McDonnell. The campaign said it distanced itself from the post and asked Choi to take it down.
A history of viral campaigns
This isn’t the first time Choi has drawn a massive online audience into a contentious public fight.
Last year, he published more than a dozen videos targeting the Los Angeles restaurant group Great White, after a diner alleged Asian customers were being seated separately at its Melrose location. The controversy expanded to include criticism of the restaurant’s name itself. One of Choi’s early videos on the subject topped 1 million views on Instagram.
Great White’s owners denied discriminating against customers by race or ethnicity and said the restaurant’s name referred to the great white shark featured in its branding. As the backlash grew, the owners, employees and their families received threatening and harassing messages — harassment that Choi publicly condemned.
Choi has said his move into social-justice content followed the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings, in which eight people were killed, including six Asian women. He later posted about San Francisco’s Kis Cafe, releasing a reaction video that drew more than 3.2 million views and encouraged followers not to patronize the business. Kis Cafe closed after a wider social-media backlash that began when a different influencer posted about an encounter with its chef-owner; the restaurant later reopened under new ownership and a new name.
Turn toward immigration enforcement
More recently, Choi has used his platform to promote fundraisers for immigration detainees and to support causes opposing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He has said two federal agents showed up at his home recently because of his online activity involving ICE personnel, though there is no public confirmation from federal authorities that he is under investigation or has been accused of any crime.
