Los Angeles DA George Gascon could face recall over progressive policies

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City officials believe DA Gascon's actions threaten public safety

Santa Clarita Council considers no-confidence vote for George Gascón. Desiree Andrade, mother of murder victim, speaks out against the Los Angeles County district attorney's policies.

A group looking to oust Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon over his progressive criminal justice policies has been cleared to begin collecting the thousands of signatures needed to trigger a recall election. 

The Los Angeles County Registrar approved the petition drive by the Recall George Gascon campaign, which must collect roughly 579,062 valid signatures – 10% of county voters -- by Oct. 27, the agency told Fox News. 

"They can now begin public circulation and signature gathering," a Registrar spokesman said Thursday.  

The drive comes amid mounting criticism of Gascon months after he was elected on a progressive platform to hold police officers accountable and create a more equitable criminal justice system in the country's largest prosecutors office. A spokesman for the recall campaign told Fox News the petitions will begin collecting signatures on its website within 24 hours. 

The campaign intends to collect thousands more than needed to make sure it comes within the required threshold. 

Many crime victims, law enforcement officials, elected leaders and some of his own prosecutors have accused Gascon -- a former assistant chief of police with the Los Angeles Police Department and former San Francisco District Attorney -- of creating a revolving door for criminals where they are not fully held accountable for their offenses. 

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Some have cited his reluctance to seek the death penalty, his refusal to try juvenile suspects as adults, his stance on cash bail and the dismissal of misdemeanor cases and gang enhancements, which significantly increase prison sentences.

Desiree Andrade signed up to be an organizer with the recall campaign over Gascon's prosecution of her son's killers. Her son, Julien, 20, was killed in 2018 and his body was thrown off a cliff. 

Under Gadon's sweeping reforms, special circumstances charges against the three suspects were dropped, meaning they could be eligible for parole after serving 25 years in prison instead of a life sentence without parole.

"I felt at that that I was slapped in the face," Andrade told Fox News upon hearing the news of the dismissal of charges during a Thursday interview. "Here you have a district attorney that took an oath to serve and protect the community and that's far from what he's doing right now."

Tania Owen, co-chair of the recall campaign, said in a news release that "Gascon has turned his back on victims and is failing to protect his constituents, so we are taking matters into our own hands."

Owen, a retired Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy, lost her husband, Sgt. Steve Owen, a 29-year veteran of the force, when he was killed execution-style on Oct. 5, 2016, while responding to reports of a burglary. In an interview with Fox News earlier this year, she said Gascon lied to voters when he ran on anti-law enforcement rhetoric to distract from his controversial reforms. 

Supporters have praised Gascon's reforms, which they say are needed to address systemic racism within the criminal justice system, and for pledging to hold police officers accountable.

In a statement to Fox News, Gascon spokesman Max Szabo said the recall campaign isn't surprising but added that what elections are for. 

"This recall effort was announced the day of the DA’s inauguration," he said. "There’s a finish line in politics and it’s called Election Day. If you lose, train in the offseason and be ready to go next time."

In recent weeks, several cities across the county have publicly come out against the district attorney and his directives in the form of no-confidence votes.

The latest municipalities to issue such resolutions include Azusa, Diamond Bar, Santa Fe Springs, Pico Rivera and the affluent cities of Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach and Beverly Hills. At least 15 of the county's 88 cities have issued the no-confidence votes. 

CALIFORNIA MOTHER OF BRUTALLY BEATEN MURDER VICTIM SLAMS LEFT-WING DA GASCON AS 'PRO-CRIMINAL'

In this photo provided by the County of Los Angeles, incoming Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon speaks after he was sworn in during a mostly-virtual ceremony in downtown Los Angeles in December 2020. A recall campaign is underway by a group opposed to his progressive policies. (Bryan Chan/County of Los Angeles via AP) (Bryan Chan/County of Los Angeles via AP)

Azusa Councilman Andrew Mendez told Fox News he supports some reforms but said Gascon has taken his efforts a step further and is defying voters by refusing to prosecute some criminal suspects. 

"I'm a big personal believer that we need prison reform," he told Fox News. "The DA has attempted to kind of use this as ‘This is prison reform.’ No this isn't."

He cited a case in which he said a suspect in the city allegedly violently assaulted his mother and two police officers and then had multiple charges against him from the incident dropped by Gascon's office. 

Cameron Smyth, a councilman in Santa Clarita, located north of Los Angeles, said Gascon's directives seem to favor criminals of crime victims. 

"When you look at the record and when you talk to the advocates of crime victims, it's hard to come to a different conclusion," he told Fox News. 

Gascon isn't fazed by the growing list of cities speaking out against him, Szabo said, while attributing the backlash to conservative politics. 

"In casting these votes, conservative politicians are not only turning a blind eye to the data and science that says these policies enhance safety in our communities, they're also aligning themselves with the fringe right that has sought to undermine the will of the voters and our democracy itself," he said. 

In a series of tweets addressing the petition drive, Los Angeles County child abuse prosecutor, Jonathan Hatami, said Gascon's policies have made Los Angeles County residents unsafe. 

"The DA has failed to make our communities safer for children, families and all Angelenos. I stand with the people of Los Angeles against this injustice," he wrote.

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Mendez, the councilman, said a recall, not symbolic resolutions enacted by cities, would be probably be needed for Gascon to walk back some of his more unpopular reforms.

"If that's not going to get his real attention, I think a recall will," he said.