Threats, harassment by alleged associates of Elk Grove Mayor caused pregnancy miscarriage claims local writer



UPDATED 11:20 a.m. July 15 | 

Ed. note: This story contains references and links to images that readers might find objectionable.

An Elk Grove lifestyle writer in a post yesterday claimed that harassment and threats by people associated with the Mayor of Elk Grove led to a recent pregnancy miscarriage.

That allegation was leveled against Mayor Steve Ly by Dr. Jacqueline "Jax" Cheung DrPH. on the website Jax Chronicles. The allegations stem from an opinion piece by Linda Vwj (Vu) published on Elk Grove Tribune, which Ms. Cheung edits, that discussed harassment she received from people allegedly associated with Ly.

In her opinion piece on June 29, Vwj said she criticized a social media post by Ly in early June that implied a fire that destroyed a South Sacramento Hmong-American owned business (Ly and Vwj are of Hmong descent) was caused by protests in Downtown Sacramento over the death of George Floyd. After being criticized, Ly removed the post.

In her Tribune piece, Vwj claimed after her criticism, male members of the Sacramento area Hmong community harassed and threatened her. Vwj also criticized Hmong patriarchal social structures, which she said Ly leveraged to in an effort rescind the critique.   

In that same piece, Cheung also alleged she and her family had been subjected to threats and intimidation by individuals associated with Ly. At that time, Cheung and Vwj filed a report with Elk Grove Police, which is conducting an investigation.

In her post today on Jax Chronicle, Cheung said that as a result of the threats, she and her family have gone into self-imposed seclusion and considered hiring a bodyguard. The stress brought on by the actions of those alleged to be associated with Ly also caused Cheung to experience a miscarriage in what appears to be the first trimester of pregnancy.

Cheung wrote, "I’m so angry, upset, and confused. I lost my baby! It would have been our third child. IT’S SO UNFAIR! The fetus was stable! I know it was the stress of being threatened and harassed that caused this miscarriage. There was no reason for me to miscarry. For the sake of my unborn child, I need to come forward with this because people need to know. I wouldn’t wish this pain on anybody!"    

As a validation of her claim, Cheung's story also contained a picture of a sanitary pad (the image can be viewed here) that she said shows evidence of the miscarriage. Cheung said she was aware of her pregnancy before Vwj's opinion piece. 

Throughout the ongoing rift, Ly has denied any involvement with people supposedly acting on his behalf harassing Cheung and Vwj and has denounced online harassment and bullying. Ly did not respond to a request to comment on Cheung's piece.

In addition to her medical experiences, Cheung also said two other individuals associated with Ly, Mai Tou Vaj, and Dr. Firdos Sheikh M.D., who is reportedly a staff member of Elk Grove-based California Northstate University medical school, had harassed her. Cheung focused in particular on Sheikh's role in what she says was harassment on behalf of fo Ly.

Of Sheikh's role, Cheung said, "some of his known associates like Dr. Firdos Sheikh (works at CNU), who is currently charged with several crimes and has her medical license in jeopardy, have been relentless in their harassment." Cheung noted Sheikh is under federal indictment for immigration crimes and that she "works at CNU School of Medicine, in case anybody cares. She is an Assistant Professor of Electro Diagnostic Medicine & Neurology. I’m surprised they would employ someone who has been arrested and is likely to have something happen to her medical license."

Although Sheikh lists CNU on her Linkedin profile, the CNU medical school does not list her on their current online roster. CNU spokesperson Brian Holloway said Sheikh has not been an employee or associated with the school since 2017. 

After thanking three local elected officials - Elk Grove Unified School District trustees Nancy Chaires and Bobbie Singh-Allen and Cosumnes Community Services District Director Jaclyn Moreno for their support, Cheung concluded by encouraging other women to come forward and said "Elk Grove needs new leadership!"

UPDATED: This story was updated to reflect that Dr. Sheikh is not an employee and has not been associated with the California Northstate University medical school since 2017. Dr. Sheikh did not respond to a message sent via social media regarding the assertions mad about her seeking comment.  

Copyright by Elk Grove News © 2020. All right reserved.










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3 comments

D.J. Blutarsky said...

This story gets more bizzare by the day!

First we had a Hmong auto body shop fire that was caused by arson. Then we had allegations of Hmong clan bullying of women at the direction of Mayor Ly. Then we had Mayor Ly saying it wasn't him. Then we had a supposed employee of CNU under indictment for immigration human trafficking, and then we have a miscarriage...meanwhile Hmongs keep getting arrested at illegal pot grow houses????

Something just doesn't smell right....

Spoons and Forks said...

I am sorry to hear that Jax had the unfortunate experience of a miscarriage. It is always an emotional experience.

Perhaps it is a generational thing, but given Jax is in child bearing years and I have passed that phase of my life, I have to say the posting of her evidence is disturbing. If she wants to be disturbing she accomplished that but for a woman like me not in the way that will add credibility to her and the other women involved in this drama.

Josie said...

Well this is a raw story, gonna have to de-spin it's content for sure.

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