Woke DAs’ Bloody Hands
America’s woke DAs have blood on their hands. Take LA’s George Gascón. This week, two LA County police officers were murdered in cold blood by a gangbanger with a lengthy rap sheet who’d been allowed to walk free after a probation violation, thanks to policies Gascón put in place.
His pandering to police-defunders and other far-left Dems has sent violent crime skyrocketing in LA. Homicides are up about 34% this year vs. the same period in 2020. All violent crime is up 15.3%.
Justin Flores, the cop-killer Gascón’s rules let walk, was not a confused kid or someone made desperate by a tough economy. He was a hardcore recidivist criminal who should have been off the street as soon as he violated probation.
Gascón owns this. Just as recently ousted San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin owns the terrible jumps in crime in his city. Murder rose 25% there January through April over the first four months of 2021; rapes, 7%; larceny 31%.
Who suffers the most as a result? It’s not the wealthier, whiter voter bases who put Gascón and Boudin in office.
The problem — as New Yorkers well know — is national. While Mayor Eric Adams’ efforts to bring back sensible policing policies have already done much good in his battle against crime, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg has pioneered a catch-and-release policy that sees dangerous offenders back on the street, robbing, assaulting and shooting in no time flat.
Bragg owns that, just like his colleagues on the West Coast.
Yet the tide may be turning. Boudin was ousted by a recall vote this month. The recall effort Gascón is facing just hit its signature requirement to make the November ballot. Pennsylvania legislators have begun impeachment proceedings against Philly DA Larry Krasner. And though only New York’s governor can boot Bragg (which Gov. Kathy Hochul seems to lack the backbone to do), the pressure’s on: Almost all New Yorkers, per a recent Siena poll (92%), see crime as a serious problem.
That’s good. Until these woke DAs are held accountable, the violence won’t stop.