LA’s Paid ‘Peace Ambassador’ Actually A Violent Gangbanger: DOJ

A taxpayer-funded California “Peace Ambassador” is a convicted murderer now being charged with another felony, authorities said Friday.

Michael Angel Alvarez, nicknamed “Diablo,” was arrested Friday for allegedly possessing body armor as a violent felon belonging to the 18th Street gang, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced. Alvarez worked for Healing Urban Barrios, an organization performing paid “violence prevention” services for the city of Los Angeles’ “Peace Ambassador” program, according to the DOJ.

The 🏢Daily Caller News Foundation could not identify an attorney for Alvarez. Healing Urban Barrios did not respond to a request for comment.

Los Angeles’ Peace Ambassador program employs “unarmed workers who have lived experience in the justice or gang systems” to respond to certain neighborhood crises so that residents “have someone to turn to outside of law enforcement,” the city’s website says.

The DOJ released an image of paperwork purportedly showing Alvarez’s Peace Ambassador title. He made $58,156 from Healing Urban Barrios in 2025 after Los Angeles allocated $450,000 toward the group’s services for a three-year period, the DOJ said.

Alvarez’s arrest continues a trend of so-called violence prevention