SIMI VALLEY, Calif. – As protests against police brutality take place nationwide, DeMario McDow said that it has been a long time coming.

“In this situation, we’re all not OK. It takes a toll on us mentally, physically, emotionally. A lot of us are drained from this and it’s only been nine days of protests. But it’s been going on for so many years,” McDow said.

McDow has taken part in many protests throughout L.A. since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. McDow has also stood up for his community in other ways. He is a rapper based out of Simi Valley, known as DeMario SB, who created a song called Peace (So Divided).

The song was written after the death of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American teen who was shot in Miami Gardens, Florida by George Zimmerman. McDow shared that he also has experienced life-threatening instances with the police.

“I’ve been pulled over numerous times by the cops and I’ve gotten a gun pulled on me at least a couple of times,” McDow said.

The protests against police brutality are personal for him. But when McDow saw a Facebook post that was made by the City of Simi Valley’s Mayor Pro Tem, Mike Judge, who is also a 30-year veteran as a Los Angeles Police Department officer, he said it was a clear message.

The post read, “Wanna stop the riots? Mobilize the septic tank trucks, put a pressure cannon on em… hose em down…. the end.”

“That post was racist,” McDow said.

Judge has since taken down the post and provided an apology online. He told Spectrum News 1 that the post was just a joke.

“I’m sorry that people took this out of context and I know, some people did this for political reasons. Now, anybody else who truly feels hurt by what I posted, again, I apologize. I did not mean to hurt anybody or give anybody any heartache over this. It does not incite any violence to anybody, it just seemed like a comical thing to me,” Judge said.

The LAPD said they are aware of the post and that the Internal Affairs Group will be looking into it.

The Mayor of Simi Valley issued the following statement:

“Unfortunately what Mayor Pro Tem Judge saw as humor, has no place in today’s discourse. I do not agree with his post and I do not feel that it was appropriate. The dialogue that has erupted and the picture it has painted of Simi Valley is the opposite of who our community is. I am saddened that our residents have been subject to this. As public officials, we are held to a higher standard and our residents deserve the best from their City Council.”

But as far as McDow is concerned, he will continue to join the peaceful protests to make sure the message that black lives matter us amplified.

Judge had asked a protest organizer in Simi Valley to cancel Saturday’s planned protest after he shared the meme post on how to stop the riots.