Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón defended his office’s prosecution of cop killer Justin Flores, saying his previous arrest for possession of a gun was “not a violent crime”:
NEW: L.A. District Attorney @GeorgeGascon doubles down. Says the outcome of cop killer Justin Flores' gun case was "appropriate", & that "possession of a gun is not a violent crime." Colleague @MattFinnFNC asked Gascon if he has message for parents of the dead cops, he walked out pic.twitter.com/O8aYSV70dh
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) June 21, 2022
Unbelievable. He just left:
After doubling down on his handling of cop-killer Justin Flores’ felon w/ gun case, LA DA @GeorgeGascon walks out and ignores colleague @MattFinnFNC, who asks if he has anything to say to the parents of murdered El Monte PD officer Joseph Santana, who blame Gascon for his death. pic.twitter.com/5l3my2k3rP
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) June 22, 2022
As we told you last week, Gascón’s office “gave a felon/gang member w/ a prior strike a plea deal for probation on his gun charge instead of prison.” He’s still claiming his office did nothing wrong despite, you know, evidence to the contrary:
Gascon also claimed there was no evidence of a history of violence with Flores. He claimed Flores didn't have contact w/ the criminal justice system after his 2011 strike, but his rap sheet shows numerous misdemeanor convictions in 2013, 2018, 2019, & 2020. @FoxNews
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) June 21, 2022
And Gascón wants people reacting to the murder of two police officers because of his policies to not “overreact”:
Gascon: "We have been down the road of being scared and reacting harshly, harsh incarceration and punishment never made us safter and many would say we are here because of past mistakes. I understand how difficult this is, but we urge all to ensure we don't overreact." @FoxNews
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) June 21, 2022
FLORES SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN PRISON!
"Under California law Flores should have been in a prison cell on the day he murdered the two officers. Instead, because of George Gascón’s policies, he was in a hotel room beating his girlfriend, until the two officers responded to the call for help.” https://t.co/Pwfq2r5cHT
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) June 22, 2022
Please, Los Angeles voters, recall Gascón:
BREAKING: The El Monte City Council just voted 5-0 in favor of a vote of NO CONFIDENCE in George Gascón! Thank you El Monte for supporting victims, families, children and the families of Officers Santana and Paredes!
— jonathanhatami (@jonathanhatami) June 22, 2022
These 5 board members are Dems, too:
All Democrats.
El Monte becomes the 35th city in Los Angeles county to issue a vote of no confidence in LA DA George Gascon. @FoxNews https://t.co/IGJAzejNSw— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) June 22, 2022
Here’s his full statement:
For my full statement, please visit: https://t.co/kI474HRuog https://t.co/FjiKLkBows
— George Gascón (@GeorgeGascon) June 22, 2022
From the District Attorney’s office:
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón today addressed the facts surrounding the fatal shootings of two El Monte police officers.
District Attorney Gascón again offered his condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of El Monte Police Cpl. Michael Paredes and Officer Joseph Santana.
“This has been a difficult few days in Los Angeles County, and many people are in pain, mourning the loss of these heroic officers,” District Attorney Gascón said. “I know that their families will be grieving for a long time, and that no words will ease their suffering. As a former police officer, I deeply appreciate the sacrifices of these officers and their commitment to making our county safe.”
“We cannot use single tragedies to make policy,” District Attorney Gascón said. “We have done that in the past, reacting harshly to isolated incidents that frighten and anger us. But it failed to increase community safety, contributed to mass incarceration and emptied our public coffers of funds we could otherwise devote to education, healthcare, housing, infrastructure and economic development.”
“There will be time over the coming months for reflection, which we should always do and which our office has done,” District Attorney Gascón said. “It is clear we need to do more to provide supervision and reentry services, but we cannot allow our anger to lead us to falsely conclude the worst-case scenario is the norm.”
***
Related:
Bill Melugin is having none of Los Angeles County DA George Gascón’s ‘sensible gun laws’ preaching
Join the conversation as a VIP Member