In article <t1tore$38sv9$119@news.freedyn.de>
<governor.swill@gmail.com> wrote:

The shooting deaths of two Los Angeles-area police force members
by a gang member are due to policies enacted by District
Attorney George Gascon that minimize charges against suspects
using guns, current and former prosecutors say.

Cpl. Michael Paredes and Officer Joseph Santana of the El Monte
Police Department were shot to death by a felon on probation in
an ambush at a motel Tuesday night. The shooter would likely
have been in jail on a previous gun charge if not for Gascon�s
soft-on-crime policies, said former Los Angeles County District
Attorney Steve Cooley.

�Apparently, the indulgent sentence given to this ex-con with a
gun enabled him to be out when he should have been in. And when
he was out, he got another gun and murdered two police
officers,� Cooley told the Washington Examiner. �This is a
direct result of Gascon�s policies, which required the least
charges and minimal sentences.�

GASCON UNLAWFULLY TOLD PROSECUTORS TO ABANDON THREE STRIKES LAW,
COURT SAYS

One of Gascon�s first mandates when he took office in 2020 was
to forbid prosecutors from filing additional charges for the use
of a gun, which could result in a maximum sentence of life in
prison.

Gang member Justin Flores was given a 20-day jail sentence in
2021 and had a part of a gun possession charge dropped in
exchange for a no-contest plea in court, said Lt. Omar Camacho
with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Prior to Gascon�s tenure, the Los Angeles County District
Attorney's Office would have vigorously prosecuted Flores�s gun
charge, Cooley said. And that would have resulted in a minimum
of 18 months in jail, so Flores would still be in custody, said
Cooley, who served as district attorney in the nation's most
populous county from 2000 to 2012.

On Tuesday, officers from El Monte Police Department arrived at
the Siesta Inn in response to a 911 call of a possible stabbing.
They were met with a hail of gunfire at the motel room, and both
later died at a hospital. Flores fled to the parking lot, where
he encountered additional police officers who shot him dead,
Camacho said.

A woman was located who had been with Flores, but she did not
appear to have any injuries.

Flores had a previous burglary conviction, which gave him the
status of a felon prohibited from possessing weapons, said
Sheriff Alex Villanueva. Flores�s subsequent possession of a gun
and ammunition prompted a probation violation case and the
partial dismissal by Gascon.

The LASD is investigating the murders of Paredes and Santana.

�Gascon�s policies have grave consequences,� said Villanueva,
who is part of a campaign to recall Gascon. �Unfortunately, it�s
the innocent person who pays the price. In this case, two cops
are just doing their jobs.�

Gascon faces a recall election, and the campaign initiating it
announced Wednesday that it has the required 566,857 signatures
to place the measure on a ballot � possibly as soon as the Nov.
8 general election. Organizers will continue to collect
additional signatures to cover for any submissions that are
illegitimate.

The Gascon recall efforts come in the wake of San Francisco
voters' June 7 decision to kick District Attorney Chesa Boudin
out of office over policies they perceived as coddling criminals
and suspects rather than prosecuting lawbreakers. Gascon was
Boudin's predecessor as San Francisco district attorney from
2011 to 2019.

Gascon's office issued the following statement pertaining to the
shooting: "The sentence he received in the firearm case was
consistent with case resolutions for this type of offense given
his criminal history and the nature of the offense. At the time
the court sentenced him, Mr. Flores did not have a documented
history of violence."

�Both of the El Monte police officers killed in the line of duty
were dads. This has become a dangerous social experiment in LA.
It needs to change,� tweeted Jon Hatami, a frequent Gascon
critic.

��Public Safety� is not just a hollow phrase. It requires
action. Our so-called leaders need to do better,� added Hatami,
a deputy district attorney in the Complex Child Abuse Unit.

City leaders gathered for a press conference Tuesday night.

"They paid the ultimate sacrifice � serving their community,
trying to help somebody," said interim El Monte Police Chief Ben
Lowry. "Today, they were murdered by a coward."