Larry Elder was victim of 'hate crime' caused by 'woke privilege,' LA County sheriff says
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has remained silent on the attack
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva called an egg-throwing attack this week on Black Republican recall candidate Larry Elder by a White woman wearing a gorilla mask a hate crime and blamed "woke privilege" for liberal silence on the issue.
"QUESTION: How is this not a hate crime? ANSWER: Because "woke privilege" means a white woman can wear a gorilla mask and attack a black man without fear of being called a racist. Where is the outrage from our politicians?" Villanueva, a Democrat, tweeted on Thursday.
Villanueva said he plans to investigate the attack as a hate crime because the woman wore a gorilla mask, the Washington Examiner reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Elder, the Republican frontrunner in the election that could remove Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom from office next week, was hurried out of the Venice area of Los Angeles on Wednesday when the campaign stop turned confrontational near a homeless encampment. He was heckled and the gorilla-masked woman on a bicycle just missed his head with the projectile. Elder said some of the hecklers yelled racial epithets.
VENICE, CA. September 8, 2021:Republican gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder is escorted by a security guard as a few homeless people yell during a tour in Venice Wednesday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Newsom has remained silent on the attack and has yet to respond to Fox News' question on whether he would condemn the attack.
LARRY ELDER SAYS ‘RACIAL EPITHETS WERE YELLED DURING EGG ATTACK, CALLS OUT LIBERAL SILENCE
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}No arrests have been made yet.
The candidate himself wasn’t so quick to label the egg thrower racist.
"I’m not somebody who pulls out the race card the way Barack Obama does, the way Al Sharpton does, the way CNN does, the way Black Lives Matter does," Elder told Fox News on Thursday. "Maybe it was just an idiot. Maybe it was just a fool. Maybe it was just someone who doesn’t like Larry Elder."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"All I know is: if I were a liberal and somebody wearing a gorilla mask who was a White woman threw an egg at me, the left would be screaming about systemic racism," he continued.
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The Los Angeles Police Departments’ Robbery-Homicide Division is also investigating because of its high-profile nature, according to the Los Angeles Times.