While embattled Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey is seeking votes on Tuesday, March 3, a disturbing video circulating on social media may disrupt her reelection plans. 

Lacey is the first Black woman to be named District Attorney in Los Angeles County. But since being elected in 2012, she has faced harsh criticism from those that thought she would usher in a new era of reform and accountability. Mother Jones reports there were 500 reported police killings during her tenure and that her office declined to prosecute any of the officer’s involved in the fatal encounters.

Organizers with Black Lives Matter LA posted a video this morning showing a man they say is Lacey’s husband, David Lacey, pointing a gun at protestors and threatening to shoot them. According to KTLA,  protestors, chanting “Jackie Lacey must go,” had gathered in front of Lacy’s home this morning after unsuccessfully trying to meet with the district attorney at her office for over two years.

Melina Abdullah, a Black Lives Matter LA organizer, released video of the confrontation she said occurred between her and Lacey's husband David at around 5:40 a.m.

The footage opens with a man holding up a firearm at his door saying: "Get off of my porch, right now. Get off."

A woman can be heard responding: "Good morning. Are you going to shoot me?"

The man replied: "I will shoot you. Get off of my porch. ... Get off of my porch, right now. We're calling the police, right now."

The man then can be seen shutting the door.

Activist Jasymne Cannick also shared the video along with the caption, “This morning Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s husband pulled a gun out on Black Lives Matter activists who protested his wife in front of their house.”
Rolling Stone writer Jamill Smith wrote on Twitter, “Jackie Lacey, the Los Angeles County D.A., is up for re-election on Tuesday. That’s Lacey’s husband, David, pointing the gun. There had been plenty of reasons for Angelenos with any sense to oppose Lacey keeping her job. This may provoke those who hadn’t voted yet to act.”
Related: Ed Buck, Democratic Donor Accused Of Preying On Black Gay Men, Charged With Operating Drug Den

Black Lives Matter founder Patrisse Cullors also shared the video calling for accountability. “This is Jackie Lacey’s husband,” she captioned the video on Twitter. “He pulled a gun out on peaceful protesters. We need everyone to see this. This is the kind of Los Angeles we live in.”

In addition to concerns over police misconduct, Lacy was slammed by critics for waiting to prosecute Ed Buck, a wealthy democratic donor who had two Black men die in his home within 18 months. It wasn’t until a third Black man overdosed last September, but survived, did Jackie Lacey take steps to prosecute Buck.
In a statement to BET.com on Sept. 18, 2019, following Ed Buck’s arrest, Scott Roberts, the senior director of criminal justice campaigns for Color of Change, said about Lacey, “This is the day our community feared. It’s what we warned against. It’s what we railed against. It has taken harm to yet another Black man for District Attorney Lacey to dare to bring charges against Ed Buck. It is our community that has now paid the price of Lacey’s initial refusal to hold a powerful person to account for his previous predations on young, Black men.”

Lacey is facing two challengers in the March 3 primary: former San Francisco DA George Gascón and former Los Angeles County public defender Rachel Rossi.

Lacey has since apologized for the incident, saying she and her husband were awakened and frightened. According to ABC, Lacey claims her husband ran downstairs and heard him talking to someone and when he came back, he said there were protesters.

“I pulled my gun, and I asked them to leave," she said he told her. Lacey said they were both sorry it happened.