A protester threw a tomato at Tulare Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo while she spoke in support of an investigation into the California High-Speed Rail project on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, in Los Angeles. (GV Wire Composite/Paul Marshall)
- A protester threw a tomato at Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo while she spoke in support of an investigation into the troubled high-speed rail project.
- Macedo, a Tulare Republican, is a critic of the project, which has been plagued by cost overruns and delays.
- Macedo has a bill that would redirect HSR funds to wildfire prevention and water infrastructure.
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While Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo, R-Tulare. spoke about the investigation into high-speed rail on Thursday in Los Angeles, a protester threw a tomato that appeared to hit her.
Protesters gathered in support of California’s high-speed rail at Union Station, where Macedo joined U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to discuss the audit of the project.
The tomato appeared to hit Macedo in the head. No more details were shared about the protester.
Macedo is a critic of the project, penning a letter to President Donald Trump asking him to look into cost overruns and delays. She also created legislation to reroute state high-speed rail funding to wildfire prevention and water infrastructure.
Macedo appeared to take the attack in stride on her post in social media.
“Throughout my life I was taught to be tough & handle every curve ball thrown at me,” Macedo wrote on X. “A tomato is new. If you are going to throw produce, make sure is it (sic) #CaliforniaGrown. This was my effort to have an open & honest conversation with people who disagree.”
Throughout my life I was taught to be tough & handle every curve ball thrown at me. A tomato is new 🍅
If you are going to throw produce, make
sure is it #CaliforniaGrown 🌾 This was my effort to have an open & honest conversation with people who disagree #tomatotantrum pic.twitter.com/0SFLsROIGI— Alexandra Macedo (@Macedo4Assembly) February 21, 2025
Federal Government Could Withhold $4 Billion in Funding from Project
Duffy announced the investigation into California High-Speed Rail on Thursday. He criticized the project for running over budget despite being reduced to an initial line between Merced and Bakersfield.
Duffy said the federal government could withhold $4 billion previously committed to the project if it didn’t meet grant standards.
Related Story: Fed Audit of CA High-Speed Rail Begins. $4B in Funding at Stake.
Assembly Bill 267 from Macedo would redirect ongoing funding — estimated at $1 billion a year — to wildfire prevention and water infrastructure. Macedo joined 16 other California legislators in calling for the investigation.
“The $1 billion the state spends on the High-Speed Rail each year would be better spent on protecting lives, homes, and jobs against wildfire and other natural disasters as well as securing water infrastructure for our economy to grow,” the letter stated. “We owe it to Californians to carefully examine the viability of this project and hold the HSRA accountable for its mismanagement and broken promises. We stand with you in your forthcoming investigation of the High-Speed Rail project.”
DOT Examines Reasons for Cost Overruns, Delays
The original $33 billion estimate for the project spanning from Los Angeles to San Francisco has since been reduced to a run from Merced to Bakersfield. The cost to build from Merced to Bakersfield exceeds that $33 billion estimate.
The California High-Speed Rail Office of the Inspector General found a funding gap of $6.5 billion for that segment. The U.S. Department of Transportation says that the gap exists even without the $4 billion from former President Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Plan.
Completing the Los Angeles and San Francisco corridor could cost $103.1 billion, with $92.6 billion unfunded, according to a 2023 review by the CHSRA Peer Review Group.
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