Connect with us

West

Jewish prosecutors in blue city blow whistle on alleged antisemitism in DA's office

Published

on

Jewish prosecutors in blue city blow whistle on alleged antisemitism in DA's office

Join Fox News for access to this content

Plus special access to select articles and other premium content with your account – free of charge.

By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News’ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive.

Please enter a valid email address.

Having trouble? Click here.

A growing number of deputy district attorneys in Los Angeles says they have concerns about antisemitism in the office after months of silence on the issue from their boss, which culminated in clashes between anti-Israel agitators and counterprotesters outside a synagogue in a heavily Jewish neighborhood in the city.

Violence erupted outside the Adas Torah synagogue on Pico Boulevard last week, prompting condemnations from a range of prominent Democrats, including President Biden, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

Advertisement

But according to a number of Los Angeles prosecutors, there was notable silence from the district attorney tasked with prosecuting criminal acts in connection to the clashes: George Gascon.

VIOLENCE BREAKS OUT AFTER ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS SURROUND LA SYNAGOGUE, CLASH WITH ISRAEL SUPPORTERS

LAPD officers clash with anti-Israel protesters outside the Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles on June 23, 2024. (DAVID SWANSON/AFP via Getty Images)

“I hate going to work and entering a building where I feel like my boss will treat me differently simply because I’m Jewish, and that’s how I feel and many others feel,” said Brian Schirn, a veteran prosecutor helming the DA’s narcotics division.

Key issues Schirn and other deputy district attorneys brought up were Gascon’s slow response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel; his endorsements from local political groups accused of antisemitism, including the People’s City Council, a group dubbed “blatantly antisemitic” by the American Jewish Council’s Los Angeles chapter; and the fact that between a third and half of the nearly two dozen whistleblower retaliation lawsuits filed by fellow deputy district attorneys come from Jewish plaintiffs.

Advertisement

BIDEN ‘APPALLED’ BY VIOLENCE AT LA SYNAGOGUGE, BUT DOJ WON’T SAY IF IT’S SEEKING CHARGES

They say he took an aggressive posture after pro-Israel counterprotesters joined the Adas Torah clashes, but not against the antisemitic mob that kicked things off. They say Jewish prosecutors have been passed over for more than a dozen promotions to prominent head deputy positions. And they say Gascon only addressed Hamas’ bloody Oct. 7 rampage in Israel after a letter from more than 130 employees asked him to do so.

Israel supporters clash with anti-Israel protesters blocking access to the Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles on June 23, 2024. (DAVID SWANSON/AFP via Getty Images)

In his response to the petition, he did not mention Hamas or use the term “antisemitism,” but in a statement to Fox News Digital, Gascon’s office condemned antisemitism by name and “all forms of hatred.”

“The District Attorney’s Office condemns all forms of hatred, including antisemitism and takes allegations of discrimination seriously,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “Any suggestion that the DA’s Office is sympathetic to organizations that promote hatred, discrimination, violence, or terrorism is unfounded. Our approach to prosecuting demonstrations and counterprotests is driven solely by the principles of law and justice, without any bias toward any group.”

Advertisement

WATCH: Biden DOJ pressured to prosecute violent LA synagogue attackers

According to one of the retaliation lawsuits, Deputy District Attorney Amy Pentz, who is Jewish, was invited to join the office’s “Equity Action Team.” After just one meeting, in which she thanked the panel for including her and said she was concerned about antisemitism, she was kicked out of the group “under the pretext that there were too many lawyers” on the panel, according to court documents.

Another deputy DA suing over alleged retaliation is John Lewin, a veteran cold case prosecutor who recently came home from leave early to help with a murder trial.

LA INTERNAL AFFAIRS WATCHDOG ACCUSES LEFTIST BOSS OF HIDING FACTS TO THWART SHERIFF’S REELECTION

Pro-Israel and anti-Israel protesters argue opposing views near the Adas Torah synagogue on June 23, 2024, in Los Angeles. (Zoe Cranfill / Los Angeles Times via AP)

Advertisement

“I have no idea what George Gascon personally believes, but from what I can tell, he doesn’t personally believe anything other than what will further his political ambition,” said Lewin, who is Jewish. “Whether he is antisemitic in his heart, I have no idea. But the people around him and the groups that support him absolutely are.”

He said he takes issue with Gascon seeming to dismiss allegations against anti-Israel protesters who camped out at UCLA before allegedly saying he’d go after counterprotesters “to the fullest extent of the law.”

Video of the synagogue standoff shows anti-Israel protesters and counterprotesters brawling. At one point, a woman could be seen on the ground curled up in a fetal position as a mob kicks her while she’s down.

George Gascón stands next to Tiffiny Blacknell. (Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office)

“The fact that he would outwardly say that he would treat cases with Jewish suspects with the full force of the law, and on the other hand talk about how he wasn’t going to do anything to protesters, is shameful and an overt sign of antisemitism,” Schirn said. “And everything he’s done from the endorsements he’s accepted with people that are so vocally full of Jewish hate through his actions as district attorney are appalling, and the public needs to know so that when they vote, they’re informed as to what this district attorney will and will not do.” 

Advertisement

Gascon’s challenger in the upcoming election, Nathan Hochman, argued that the incumbent’s silence on antisemitic protests on college campuses and outside the Adas Torah synagogue sends the wrong signal to people behind them.

“Vile and reprehensible” speech is protected by the First Amendment, he said, but rioting, violence and hate crimes are not.

And when words transition into illegal conduct, it’s the DA’s responsibility to do something about it, he added.

“You had President Biden weighing in on the Adas Torah synagogue Sunday, Gov. Newsom calling it appalling, Mayor Bass calling it abhorrent,” Hochman told Fox News Digital. “But one person was missing, the person in charge of all prosecutions, all felony prosecutions – the district attorney. His staying silent in the background, not just in connection with this incident, emboldens criminals,” Hochman said.

Joseph Iniguez, George Gascon, Richard Ceballos and Rachel Rossi attend Reform L.A. Jails Summit + Day Party: Mental Health Matters on Nov. 9, 2019 in Pasadena, California. (Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Patrisse Cullors)

Advertisement

Gascon’s office denied allegations of antisemitism and said it was working to expand the Equity Action Team once again.

“Regarding promotions and representation within our office, we are dedicated to a fair and transparent process that values the qualifications and contributions of all our employees,” the statement continued. “We are actively working to ensure that our equity and diversity panel reflects the broad spectrum of our community, including Jewish representation.”

Hochman countered that the highest levels of the DA’s office are filled with unqualified personnel.

Police in riot gear are seen trying to restore order at the scene of a violent altercation between supporters and opponents of Israel outside the Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles. (Getty Images)

Advertisement

Gascon’s No. 2 is Chief Deputy DA Joseph Iniguez, who can be seen in recently released video footage arguing with police as they tried to conduct a field sobriety test on this then-fiance. His former No. 3, Diana Teran, is facing 11 felony charges. And his chief of staff, Tiffiny Blacknell, is a former public defender who has been criticized for calling for an end to prisons, calling police “barbarians” and claiming to have been a looter during the 1992 Rodney King riots while bashing “Westside White liberals.”

“The fact that these three people who lead the DA’s office under Gascon are either unqualified, underqualified or right now being charged with criminal conduct is an indication of the catastrophic incompetence by which Gascon has run that office,” Hochman told Fox News Digital. “And if you add in the 20-plus lawsuits of people he has retaliated against, it just helps cement the truth that Gascon does not deserve to be the DA and can’t actually function as an effective DA.”

Fox News’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.

Read the full article from Here

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco has a tax plan to save Muni

Published

on

San Francisco has a tax plan to save Muni


A parcel tax plan to rescue Muni would charge most homeowners at least $129 annually if voters approve the policy in November.

The finalized tax scheme, which updates a version presented Dec. 8, comes after weeks of negotiations between city officials and transit advocates.

The plan lowers the levels previously proposed for owners of apartment and condo buildings. They would still pay a $249 base tax up to 5,000 square feet of property, but additional square footage would be taxed at 19.5 cents, versus the previous 30 cents. The tax would be capped at $50,000.

The plan also adds provisions limiting how much of the tax can be passed through to tenants in rent-controlled buildings. Owners of rent-controlled properties would be able to pass through up to 50% of the parcel tax on a unit, with a cap of $65 a year.

Advertisement

These changes bring the total estimated annual tax revenue from $187 million to $183 million and earmark 10% for expanding transit service.

What you pay depends on what kind of property you or your landlord owns. There are three tiers: single-family homes, apartment and condo buildings, and commercial properties.

Owners of single-family homes smaller than 3,000 square feet would pay the base tax of $129 per year. Homes between 3,000 and 5,000 square feet would pay the base tax plus an additional 42 cents per square foot, and any home above 5,000 square feet would be taxed at an added $1.99 per square foot.

Source: Jeremy Chen/The Standard

Commercial landlords would face a $799 base tax for buildings up to 5,000 square feet, with per-square-foot rates that scale with the property size, up to a maximum of $400,000.

The finalized plan was presented by Julie Kirschbaum, director of transportation at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, at a board meeting Tuesday.

Advertisement

The plan proposed in December was criticized for failing to set aside funds to increase transit service and not including pass-through restrictions for tenants.

The tax is meant to close SFMTA’s $307 million budget gap, which stems from lagging ridership post-pandemic and the expiration of emergency federal funding. Without additional funding, the agency would be forced to drastically cut service. The parcel tax, a regional sales tax measure, and cost-cutting, would all be needed to close the fiscal gap.

The next steps for the parcel tax are creating draft legislation and launching a signature-gathering campaign to place the measure on the ballot.

Any measure would need review by the city attorney’s office. But all stakeholders have agreed on the tax structure presented Tuesday, according to Emma Hare, an aide to Supervisor Myrna Melgar, whose office led negotiations over the tax between advocates and City Hall.

“It’s final,” Hare said. “We just need to write it down.”

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Denver, CO

Suspects sought in Denver shooting that killed teen, wounded 3 others

Published

on

Suspects sought in Denver shooting that killed teen, wounded 3 others


Denver police are searching for suspects in a Saturday night parking lot shooting that killed a 16-year-old and wounded three men, at least one of whom is not expected to survive, according to the agency.

Officers responded to the shooting in the 10100 block of East Hampden Avenue about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, near where East Hampden intersects South Galena Street, according to an alert from the Denver Police Department.

Police said a group of people had gathered in a parking lot on the edge of the city’s Kennedy neighborhood to celebrate the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro when the shooting happened.

Paramedics took one victim to a hospital, and two others were taken to the hospital in private vehicles, police said. A fourth victim, identified by police as 16-year-old William Rodriguez Salas, was dropped off near Iliff Avenue and South Havana Street, where he died from his wounds.

Advertisement

At least one of the three victims taken to hospitals — a 26-year-old man, a 29-year-old man and a 33-year-old man — is not expected to survive, police said Tuesday. One man was in critical condition Sunday night, one was in serious condition and one was treated for a graze wound and released.



Source link

Continue Reading

Seattle, WA

Joy Hollingsworth Takes Helm in Seattle Council Shakeup » The Urbanist

Published

on

Joy Hollingsworth Takes Helm in Seattle Council Shakeup » The Urbanist


D3 Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth was elected Council President Tuesday in a unanimous vote. (Ryan Packer)

District 3 Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth will lead the Seattle City Council as its President for the next two years, following a unanimous vote at the first council meeting of 2026. Taking over the gavel from Sara Nelson, who left office at the end of last year after losing to progressive challenger Dionne Foster, Hollingsworth will inherit the power to assign legislation to committees, set full council agendas, and oversee the council’s independent central staff.

The role of Council President is usually an administrative one, without much fanfare involved. But Nelson wielded the role in a more heavy-handed way: making major staff changes that were seen as ideologically motivated, assigning legislation that she sponsored to the committee she chaired, and drawing a hard line against disruptions in council chambers that often ground council meetings to a halt.

With the Nelson era officially over, Hollingsworth starts her term as President on a council that is much more ideologically fractured than the one she was elected to serve on just over two years ago. The addition of Foster, and new District 2 Councilmember Eddie Lin, has significantly bolstered the council’s progressive wing, and the election of Katie Wilson as the city’s first progressive major in 16 years will also likely change council dynamics as well.

“This is my promise to you all and the residents of the city of Seattle: everyone who walks through these doors will be treated with respect and kindness, no matter how they show up, in their spirit, their attitude or their words,” Hollingsworth said following Tuesday’s vote. “We will always run a transparent and open process as a body. Our shared responsibility is simple: both basics, the fundamentals, measurable outcomes, accessibility to government and a hyper focus on local issues and transparency.”

Advertisement

Seattle politicos are predicting a closely split city council, arguably with a 3-3-3 composition, with two distinct factions of progressives and centrists, and three members — Dan Strauss, Debora Juarez, and Hollingsworth herself — who tend to swing between the two. Managing those coalitions will be a big part of Hollingsworth’s job, with a special election in District 5 this fall likely to further change the dynamic.

Alexis Mercedes Rinck, elected to a full four-year term in November, will chair the council’s human services, labor, and economic development committee. (Ryan Packer)

Though it took Tuesday’s vote to make the leadership switch official, Hollingsworth spent much of December acting as leader already, coordinating the complicated game of musical chairs that is the council’s committee assignments. In a move that prioritized comity among the councilmembers ahead of policy agendas, Hollingsworth kept many key committee assignments the same as they had been under Nelson.

Rob Saka will remain in place as chair of the powerful transportation committee, Bob Kettle will keep controlling the public safety committee, and Maritza Rivera will continue heading the education committee, which will be tasked with implementing the 2024 Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy.

There are plenty of places for progressives to find a silver lining in the new assignment roster, however. Foster will chair the housing committee, overseeing issues like renter protections and appointments to the Seattle Social Housing PDA’s governing council. Alexis Mercedes Rinck, who secured a full four-year term in November, will helm the human services committee, a post she’d been eyeing for much of her tenure and which matches her background working at the King County Regional Homelessness Authority. Labor issues have been added to her committee as well, and she will vice-chair the transportation committee.

The Seattle City Council’s newest progressive members, Dionne Foster and Eddie Lin, will chair the housing and land use committees, respectively. (Foster/Lin campaigns)

Lin, a former attorney in the City Attorney’s office who focused on housing issues, will stay on as chair of the wonky land use committee, after inheriting the post from interim D2 appointee Mark Solomon last month. Thaddaeus Gregory, who served as Solomon’s policy director and has extensive experience in land use issues, has been retained in Lin’s office.

The land use committee overall will likely be a major bright spot of urbanist policymaking this year, with positions for all three progressives along with Strauss and Hollingsworth. The housing committee will feature exactly the same members, but with Juarez swapped out for Strauss.

In contrast, Kettle’s public safety committee will feature Eddie Lin as the sole progressive voice, and Dan Strauss’s finance committee, which oversees supplemental budget updates that occur mid-year, won’t have any of the council’s three progressives on it at all. Strauss will also retain his influential role as budget chair.

Advertisement

But the biggest issues facing the council in 2026 will be handled with all nine councilmembers in standalone committees: the continued implementation of the Comprehensive Plan, the renewal of the 2019 Library Levy and the 2020 Seattle Transit Measure, and the city’s budget, which faces significant pressures after outgoing Mayor Bruce Harrell added significant spending that wasn’t supported by future year revenues.

Hollingsworth will likely represent a big change in leadership compared to Sara Nelson, but with such a fractured council, smooth sailing is far from assured.


Ryan Packer has been writing for The Urbanist since 2015, and currently reports full-time as Contributing Editor. Their beats are transportation, land use, public space, traffic safety, and obscure community meetings. Packer has also reported for other regional outlets including BikePortland, Seattle Met, and PubliCola. They live in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending