Controversial George Soros-backed Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón hired a public defender with a history of anti-police rhetoric as a prosecutor in his administration.
“I’ve confirmed D.A. George Gascon has hired public defender Tiffiny Blacknell to his administration as a Grade 4 prosecutor,” FOXLA investigative reporter Bill Melugin reported on Twitter. “Blacknell served on Gascon’s policy committee during his campaign. She has called LAPD ‘barbarians’ and says ‘prisons should be abolished.’”
In December, I reported that Blacknell was involved in an alleged secret “sweetheart” plea deal offer of 7 years to a suspected gang murderer behind the backs of the prosecutor & victim’s family. The deal fell apart after judge found out about it. @FOXLA https://t.co/idqDIDGCwS
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) February 25, 2021
Blacknell has a history of controversial decisions and rhetoric, including a 2020 decision to reportedly offer a “sweetheart deal” with a suspected gang killing behind the back of the victim’s family.
“The deal fell apart after judge found out about it,” Melugin reported.
Blacknell also has a history of inflammatory rhetoric about police, including once wearing a T-shirt that read, “THE POLICE ARE TRAINED TO KILL US.” Blacknell has also called Los Angeles Police Department officers “barbarians” on Twitter, while another tweet declared that “prison is obsolete. We need to reimagine America without it.”
Despite that history, Gascón has expressed confidence in his new hire.
“DA Gascon has the utmost confidence in his Executive Team and is looking forward to having Tiffiny Blacknell join the office,” his office said in a statement.
Blacknell’s Twitter account has since been set to private.
Blacknell will make $15,000 a month as a Grade 4 prosecutor, and suspicions have surfaced that Gascón chose a political ally to fill the position over qualified prosecutors. Melugin reported that Blacknell does not meet the minimum qualifications of two years of experience as a Grade 3 prosecutor.
As a Grade 4, Blacknell will be making up to $15,000 per month. According to department policy, the job requires 2 years of experience as a grade 3 prosecutor, which Blacknell does not have. Prosecutors in the office are criticizing this hire as “blatant cronyism”. @FOXLA pic.twitter.com/3V8c1lfdec
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) February 25, 2021
“It’s really unfortunate. I think it’s unfair,” said Cindy Wallace, a prosecutor with almost 13 years of experience in the DA’s office. “It seems like she was given some sort of preferential treatment for helping George Gascón’s election, being on the transition team, it’s nepotistic a bit.”
“This is really about political cronyism rather than someone who actually meets the qualification standards of a Grade 4 position,” said Eric Siddall, the vice president of the union representing prosecutors in the L.A. County DA’s Office.
Gascón, who received $2 million of funding from billionaire George Soros during his campaign, is at the center of a recall effort after he announced radical criminal reform changes, including “an end to cash bail, a ban on prosecutors seeking enhanced prison sentences, and showing leniency to many low-level offenders.”
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“He promised a softer and gentler criminal justice system that would reduce incarceration rates for minor offenders and place increased focus on mental health and addiction issues that plague our communities,” the Recall George Gascon website says. “But the moment he was sworn in as District Attorney, George Gascon instituted a series of directives to the prosecutors in his command that have nothing to do with a progressive approach to prosecution and have everything to do with a radical agenda that ignores victims, disregards the law and endangers the lives and livelihoods of all Angelenos.”
