Black Lives Matter Demands LA’s First Black District Attorney To Resign
Thousands who are protesting in the streets of Los Angeles demanding justice for George Floyd’s killing at the hands of Minneapolis police are calling for their own district attorney to resign over the staggering amount of people killed by police here.
For almost three years, Melina Abdullah, the co-founder of Black Lives Matter-LA., has led dozens of demonstrators to the steps of the Hall of Justice to call for the resignation of L.A. County District Attorney Jackie Lacey for failing to prosecute the officers involved in the killings. After Floyd’s death, thousands joined the protest.
In every case but one, Lacey, who is the first Black person to serve as L.A.'s district attorney, has found a shooting by police justified or decided not to bring charges because she concluded the officer could win an acquittal at trial.
“Everybody is utterly shocked when they think about the number of people who have been killed by police or while in custody since Lacey took office," Abdullah said to ABC News. She criticized Lacey’s substantial financial support from law enforcement organizations for appearing to be "a quid pro quo.”
Lacey is seeking a third term in November and told the Associated Press that the recent crowds and number of people is “substantial, to say the least.”
“I don’t want people thinking I’m biased or racist or afraid, or any of these very unflattering things that are said,” she said. “We shouldn’t assume that everyone who says ‘Black lives matter’ isn’t concerned also about public safety. That’s a false choice that those are mutually exclusive.”
In the March primary, Lacey did not receive the majority of votes needed to get re-elected against two contenders running to the left of her on platforms to reform the criminal justice system. She now faces a runoff against George Gascon, a former San Francisco district attorney and longtime Los Angeles police commander.
Lacey was criticized for not issuing a statement until six days after Floyd was killed. “She is so obviously reacting to the political pressure of the election," Gascon said to ABC News. "But the motivation behind that is not driven by her concerns and her desire to be thoughtful and humane but they’re really motivated by campaign politics which tells me that if she were to be re-elected she would go back very quickly to being who she’s always been.”
The death of George Floyd has ignited protests across Los Angeles for more than three weeks. Along with demanding Lacey’s resignation, protesters want dramatic reforms to the criminal justice system and a defunding of the LAPD.
