Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon defended his policies that left a convicted felon on the street to kill two police officers because Gascon still doesn’t understand criminals or public safety.
Gascon claimed that Justin Flores “had no history of violence and very little contact with the criminal justice system for 10 years.” (Flores had misdemeanor convictions in 2013, 2018, 2019, and 2020). Therefore, Gascon thought he was justified in giving him just 20 days in jail after he had been arrested on a gun possession charge, instead of the 32-month sentence he was facing under Gascon’s predecessor.
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
But Flores was not just some poor drug addict, as Gascon has tried to portray him. According to law enforcement, Flores was a member of the Quiet Village gang, which helps to explain the “Quiet” tattoo on his face. He had served two prison terms for burglary and car theft and was a convicted felon with a strike on his record. Two of Gascon’s predecessors said they would have given him longer sentences, meaning he wouldn’t have been on the street to kill El Monte police officers Michael Paredes and Joseph Santana.
While Gascon defends the slap on the wrist he gave Flores as normal and “appropriate,” his policies have been anything but. A California appeals court confirmed that Gascon was violating state law by ordering prosecutors to disregard the state’s "three strikes" law. He also opposes sentencing enhancements for gang affiliation and for crimes involving firearms.
Flores was arrested on a gun possession charge, despite being a convicted felon who was not allowed to own a firearm, yet this raised no red flags for Gascon. While he demands more gun control targeting law-abiding civilians, Gascon determined that a felon and gang member with a gun he was legally not allowed to have was fine and normal and that a 20-day sentence was “appropriate.”
Gascon has been reduced to telling people simply to live with crime and that everything he does is correct and justified. He can’t admit his mistakes because they would destroy his naive worldview and because they would fuel the recall election he will face in the near future. But everyone could have seen this coming except for him. Whether he was intentionally blinded or he really is that naive, that makes him unfit for this job and any other job in public service.