Rising Homicides Are a Wakeup Call for Los Angeles |
Los Angeles County district attorney George Gascón a George Soros-backed progressive Democrat won over voters last year with promises of sweeping criminal-justice reforms. To help him win the November 2020 election, virtually every elected Democrat in California withdrew their support from the two-term incumbent DA, Jackie Lacey, a moderate Democrat. The Biden-Harris administration, the Los Angeles Times, and Black Lives Matter leaders all rushed to endorse Gascón.
Today, the City of Angels has become synonymous with lawlessness. Images of train robberies have gone viral. The data show staggering surges of homicides, gun violence, and sexual assaults, and one can see with one s own eyes the open-air drug scenes, rampant homelessness, streets lined with human excrement and needles, prostitution, filth, and squalor. Last year saw 52 percent more homicides than in 2019; shooting incidents were up 59 percent over the same period, according to the LAPD. On being sworn in, Gascón announced that his office would no longer prosecute a range of misdemeanor crimes, from resisting arrest, trespassing, and drug possession to making criminal threats. Additionally, he said that he would not seek the death penalty and would not impose extra sentencing time for gang membership.