West
Kamala Harris played 'critical' role in California crime law now on chopping block
A movement is underway to reform a decade-old California crime law that opponents on both sides of the political aisle say has wreaked havoc on the state, while a “critical” supporter of the measure is running for president.
The 2014 law, Proposition 47, reclassified a number of felonies, including retail and property theft, as misdemeanors. Under Prop 47, petty theft of goods valued at under $950 is classified as a misdemeanor, even for multiple offenses. It also took a broad swath of narcotics possession offenses that were previously felonies and converted them to misdemeanors.
A ballot initiative launched last year to amend Prop 47, called the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act, or Prop 36, has been gaining support from conservatives and liberals alike in the Golden State and will be included on the November ballot.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan have joined the effort to amend the referendum, along with district attorneys up and down the state. Vice President Kamala Harris, critics say, gave the bill “critical” support, and she won’t say whether she wants to see Prop 47 amended.
CALIFORNIA CRIME REFORM GETS ‘UNHEARD OF’ SUPPORT FROM DAS, SMALL BUSINESSES, PROGRESSIVE MAYORS
Vice President Kamala Harris was tasked early on in the Biden administration with addressing the root causes of mass migration from Central and South America. (Reuters/Kevin Mohatt/Pool)
“Kamala Harris is not a hardliner [on crime],” Douglas Eckenrod, a former deputy director of parole for the California prison system, told NBC News. “Prop 47 couldn’t happen without the AG’s office support. Her support of it was literally critical.”
Should the initiative to reform Prop 47 pass, it would add fentanyl to the list of hard drugs — like heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine — that are illegal to possess with a gun, and it would mean more serious consequences for selling deadly quantities.
It would also enable stricter penalties for dealers whose trafficking causes death or serious injury and warns traffickers of potential murder charges if continued drug trafficking results in fatalities.
PROGRESSIVE CALIFORNIA MAYORS BACK EFFORT TO AMEND CRIME LAWS AMID ‘RAMPANT’ DRUGS AND THEFT
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at her presidential campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del., July 22, 2024. (Erin Schaff/Pool via Reuters)
“California and Californians are very much at a tipping point. The public is sick and tired of the rampant open-air drug use, the homelessness issue and the theft that occurs before their eyes,” Greg Totten, co-chair of Californians to Reduce Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft and CEO of the California District Attorneys Association, told Fox News Digital.
“I mean, they walk into stores, and products are locked up, inventories reduced. Store hours are reduced. Stores are closing. Malls are closed. And so the public is ready for change.”
Some of the unintended consequences of Prop 47, opponents say, include the pipeline from prison to homelessness. They add that there are no consequences for crime and drug use and that drug treatment programs are not being utilized.
During her time as attorney general, Harris and her office were responsible for writing the ballot initiative descriptions that helped voters decide what they were voting on. Her description predicted a reduction in prison populations, successful truancy programs and financial savings for the state that could be used for mental health services and K-12 education.
A report by NBC noted that while Harris didn’t take an official position, Republicans accused her of misrepresenting the bill.
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Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, delivers remarks during Sigma Gamma Rho’s 60th International Biennial Boule at the George R. Brown Convention Center July 31, 2024, in Houston. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Steve Cooley, who served as the Los Angeles County district attorney from 2000 to 2012, blamed the rise in crime on Harris and the referendum, NBC reported.
“The damage has been untold and, in a sense, irreparable,” said Cooley, who ran as a Republican against Harris for attorney general. “It was beyond a bait and switch. It was fraud by misrepresentation.”
When Prop 47 passed, law enforcement authorities blamed Harris for not acknowledging that it would massively reduce DNA collection to solve crimes like rape and murder. After the law was enacted, the amount of DNA samples collected per month dropped from 15,000 to 5,000.
“[I]f she was aware of the DNA issue, Harris could have exchanged some of the verbiage for the following nine words: Will curb law enforcement’s authority to collect DNA samples. If she wasn’t aware of the DNA issue, she was not doing her job,” the editorial board of the Sacramento Bee wrote in 2015.
Speaking to Fox News Digital, a former elected public safety official said Harris’ purported ability to combat drug and violent crime is “all foam and no beer.”
“That’s really her principle. She doesn’t want to take a position because she doesn’t know how it will impact her future,” the former official said.
“She’ll say that her job was to not formally take a position, but she could have. She didn’t want to because that’s how she threads the needle.
“If she had written a ballot title that was fair and balanced, perhaps Californians would have seen the true impact Proposition 47 would have had on public safety and our communities. Now, 10 years later, the truth has been revealed.”
A spokesperson for the Harris campaign told Fox News Digital in a statement, “During her career in law enforcement, Kamala Harris was a pragmatic prosecutor who successfully took on predators, fraudsters and cheaters like Donald Trump.”
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West
Coast Guard rescue swimmer dies after medical evacuation mission off Washington coast turns tragic
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The U.S. Coast Guard on Friday confirmed Petty Officer 2nd Class Tyler Jaggers, an aviation survival technician stationed at USCG Air Station Astoria, Oregon, died Thursday following a medical evacuation mission off the coast of Cape Flattery, Washington.
During the Feb. 27 mission, Jaggers was critically injured and put on life support, according to statements from the Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue Swimmer Association (GCHRSA).
He later died at Madigan Army Medical Center in Fort Lewis, Washington, surrounded by his parents, sister, fiancé, friends, and Coast Guard teammates, according to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem.
“We are grateful for his faithful service,” Noem wrote in a social media post.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Tyler Jaggers died after a mission off the Washington state coast. (U.S. Coast Guard via X)
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Prior to his death, Jaggers was meritoriously advanced to AST2 for his “relentless drive in qualifications, the mentorship he consistently provided to swimmer candidates, and his exceptional performance across operational missions,” according to officials.
He was also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross — one of the nation’s highest awards for heroism in aerial flight — by the Commandant of the Coast Guard.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Tyler Jaggers leaves behind his parents, sister, fiancé, friends and Coast Guard teammates. (U.S. Coast Guard via X)
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“Through his selfless service and sacrifice, AST2 Jaggers exemplified the finest legacies of Coast Guard service, and the sacred oath of the Aviation Rescue Swimmer community: So Others May Live,’” officials wrote in the statement.
The GCHRSA said it is actively coordinating support for Jaggers’ family and the aircrew at Air Station Astoria.
Authorities provided limited details about the mission. (U.S. Coast Guard via X)
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., said Coast Guard crews “never waver in rushing to the water to save lives and that’s what Tyler Jaggers was doing when he was injured.”
“My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family, along with the entire United States Coast Guard and the team based in Astoria,” Gluesenkamp Perez wrote in a statement on X.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Tyler Jaggers poses for a photo with a group of Coast Guardsmen in this undated photo. (U.S. Coast Guard via X)
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Additional details about the mission have not yet been released.
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San Francisco, CA
Court document details attack on SF mayor’s bodyguard as Lurie responds to incident
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — For the first time since the attack on San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s bodyguard, one of the suspects was in court on Tuesday afternoon.
On Monday, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins filed charges against the man. Those charges include:
- Resisting an executive officer
- Assault with force to cause bodily injury
- Willful disobedience of a court order
- Unlawful lodging at the same location from a previous citation
Mayor Daniel Lurie said the incident won’t deter him from walking the streets of the city doing what he was doing moments before his bodyguard was attacked last week.
PREVIOUS STORY: SF mayor was ‘worried’ about 2 men on street, checked on them before bodyguard attack
Multiple angles covered a dramatic altercation between one of San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s security detail and individuals on the street.
“I think I need to be able to see it myself and not just stay cloistered up and not be out of the streets. I walked the streets this morning and had some great interactions and was able to help some people,” said Mayor Lurie.
We obtained the detention motion, which revealed specific details about the incident.
The document said Mayor Lurie was riding in a car northbound on Larking Street with two of his security detail. The mayor asked the driver to stop and got out of the car with one of the officers to approach four people who were blocking the road; “two were sitting on the sidewalk… one was actually sitting in the street.” The document says one of the individuals “was aggressive” and “stepped towards the mayor,” after he asked them to move out of the road a few times. This led the bodyguard to position himself between the mayor and the individual. The document states the individual “got very close” to the officer and threatened him and said, “Bruce Lee I’ll kick your a**!”
The officer, according to the document, proceeded to shove the individual away from him “with both hands to defend himself and to create distance,” causing the individual to fall backwards on the sidewalk.
The individual quickly stood up and “rushed at the officer.”
Multiple people in the area captured the altercation on video.
We asked the mayor if he would do anything different in the future.
INTERACTIVE: Take a look at the ABC7 Neighborhood Safety Tracker
“I’m not going to stop doing it. I will consult with our detail and our chief and make sure we can do this safely,” said Mayor Lurie.
San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said he is glad the mayor sees the crisis on the streets up close.
“A lot of people will cross the street to get away from it hide from it. We don’t want our city hiding from this problem,” said Supervisor Mandelman.
Kevin Benedicto, vice president of the San Francisco police commission, said they will be looking into the incident.
“A number of commissioners are going to want to ask the chief about updates about the incident just to make sure we have all the policies and procedures in place,” said Benedicto.
The Individual who attacked the mayor’s bodyguard has been charged in the past for criminal threats in 2019 and 2020.
One of the arraignments is set for Wednesday at 9 a.m.
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Like sand through the hourglass, so too go the dumplings of the Denver Post’s annual food bracket.
Our competition started with 32 restaurants chosen by editors and readers specializing in dumplings and momos, a Tibetan and Nepali variation, in the Denver area. Two weeks later, only eight restaurants remain.
The next round of matchups in our Elite 8 competition to be decided by reader votes are:
Rocky Mountain Momo (9678 E. Arapahoe Road, Englewood) vs. ChoLon (multiple locations)
LingLon Dumpling House (2456 S. Colorado Blvd., Denver) vs. Star Kitchen (2917 W. Mississippi Ave., Denver)
Nana’s Dim Sum & Dumplings (multiple locations) vs. Dillon’s Dumpling House (3571 S. Tower Road, Unit G, Aurora)
Hop Alley (3500 Larimer St., Denver) vs. Momo Dumplings (caterer; momo-dumplings.com)
The most recent matchups recorded more than 460 entries. Our most popular head-to-head was Rocky Mountain Momo facing off against Yuan Wonton. Rocky Mountain Momo advances with 55% of 260 votes.
MAKfam, a Chinese restaurant with a Michelin nod for its value, faced a tough first-round opponent, The Empress Seafood, and scraped out a win. But this time, it wasn’t as lucky, losing to ChoLon, an upscale Asian fusion restaurant with multiple locations, by only five votes.
Make your picks below for who should advance to the next round. The online voting form will close at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, March 15.
Subscribe to our new food newsletter, Stuffed, to get Denver food and drink news sent straight to your inbox.
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