Spectrum officials have reportedly ratcheted up their rhetoric following the apparently deliberate slashing of fiber-optic lines in the San Fernando Valley.
Initially, the company called the severing of 13 cables in Van Nuys an act of vandalism, one that left more than 50,000 people in Los Angeles and Ventura counties without internet access for up to 30 hours.
However, among those impacted were “a U.S. military base, emergency dispatch and 911 communication services, local fire and police departments, financial institutions, court buildings, healthcare facilities and hospitals, educational institutions, as well as cell towers providing mobile services,” the company said in a news release.’
Because of those victims, as well as “the nature of the fiber cuts” and “extent of damage,” Spectrum’s parent company Charter Communications said “it has deemed the June 15 attack … an act of domestic terrorism.”
“These criminal attacks on our country’s vital communications networks are intentional and cause outages that put lives at risk,” said Chris Winfrey, president and CEO of Charter Communications, in the company’s release. “This is a pervasive and persistent threat to American families and businesses across the country that cannot be tolerated, and such life-threatening events should be declared acts of domestic terrorism and prosecuted accordingly.
“This requires immediate attention from federal and state legislation classifying these attacks as a felony, dedicated engagement from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, and swift, aggressive prosecution of those criminals causing the perilous situation that results from these outages.”
The release also included a statement from L.A. City Councilman John Lee, who said incidents like this pose “a significant threat to national security, with resulting outages impacting military bases and emergency services while imposing substantial financial burdens on taxpayers and local governments.”
“These disruptions divert crucial resources and have far-reaching consequences,” he added. “Safeguarding our communications infrastructure is vital for creating safe, resilient communities, and we call on everyone to stay alert, take proactive measures, and swiftly report any incidents related to this widespread issue.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, however, still considers the incident to be vandalism.
“The incident involving the severing of fiber optic cables in Van Nuys on June 15, 2025, is being investigated as a case of felony vandalism,” Officer David Cuellar said in a statement to KTLA. “Based on the evidence collected and the circumstances observed at the scene, this incident is not being treated as an act of domestic terrorism.”
A reward of up to $25,000 is available for information leading to the culprits who cut the telecommunications lines.
