FILE - A view of Thornton State Beach in 2019.

The emails started flooding David Canepa’s inbox a couple of weeks ago. They were so ridiculous to the San Mateo County supervisor that he decided he had to go investigate their claims for himself. 

He didn’t have to go far. Canepa lives a quarter of a mile from Thornton State Beach, a scenic 58-acre stretch of land just west of Daly City that has been protected by California State Parks since 1955. What he saw last Tuesday morning left him flabbergasted — an 8-foot-tall chainlink fence encircling the beach and preventing people from accessing the only path to its surrounding trails, which are popular for horseback riding and draw thousands each year. The fence was accentuated by a cardboard sign warning “trespasser(s)” that they would be shot on site if they crossed into the private property adjacent to the coastline. “Owner armed with 9mm gun,” the hand-drawn warning read. 

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“I was just absolutely appalled,” Canepa told SFGATE over the phone Sunday, after writing a letter to the California Coastal Commission........

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