The city of Beverly Hills, still smarting over the home invasion murder of a beloved celebrity, voted unanimously Tuesday to support the recall of liberal Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon.
Even though Beverly Hills is 71% Democratic, the city was one of the first to give Gascon a vote of no confidence last year. Then, as the robberies, assaults, and home invasions mounted during Gascon’s first year, the shooting death of philanthropist Jacqueline Avant was too much to bear.
“Beverly Hills Vice Mayor Lili Bosse stressed that without consequences for crime, we have Gotham City. Her sentiments were shared by others on the council as well,” said Karen Roseberry, spokeswoman for Recall Gascon Now.
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Approximately 80 people pleaded with the city council to support the recall. Gascon’s recall effort is spearheaded by crime victims, former District Attorney Steve Cooley, and Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, a Democrat.
Beverly Hills City Council Unanimously Approves Resolution in Support of the Recall of ⁰LA County District Attorney George Gascón – Read release: https://t.co/pgYvAS4x0P pic.twitter.com/NhcCy1Tj7V
— CityofBeverlyHills (@CityofBevHills) January 5, 2022
Villanueva says Gascon’s soft-on-crime policies have hurt the morale of his deputies, who have watched their suspects walk free from jail. He is also trying novel approaches to circumvent Gascon, such as assigning detectives to attend the parole hearings of people convicted of murder after the reversal of a long-standing DA policy to advocate keeping prisoners deemed dangerous behind bars.
Gascon won election in 2019, promising to reform the office. He immediately forbade prosecutors from seeking the death penalty or utilizing California’s stiff laws to seek extended sentences for violent felonies including hate crimes.
He has faced intense blowback as emboldened criminals who were kept out of jail due to state COVID-19 rules contributed to a huge crime wave. Gascon defended his policies in a press conference attended by a who’s who of George Soros-backed prosecutors from around the nation.
“California DOES NOT NEED another political recall attempt sponsored by Donald Trump backers and frequent Fox News guests,” Gascon said in a recall rebuttal recently filed with the county clerk’s office. “This is not about keeping Angelenos safe, it’s about a political power grab by well-funded political operatives who have fought reforms — on juvenile detention, mental health treatment, police accountability in fatal police shootings, and the death penalty — for decades.”
Gascon went on to state that he is focused on keeping residents safe.
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“Do not fall for this right-wing attempt,” he said. “Do not sign this petition. Los Angeles needs to move forward as a safer and less divided community where we focus on preventing crime to keep people safe — not react with political fearmongering or cable news ratings grabs.”
