Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón is being accused of antisemitism by a prominent deputy, due to his inaction against anti-Jewish hate crimes and alleged retaliation against complaints by Jewish prosecutors.
The Los Angeles Jewish Journal reports:
Brian Schirn, a deputy DA who runs the Narcotics Division, told the Journal of growing concern in the District Attorney’s office that Gascón is intentionally neglecting issues affecting Los Angeles’ Jewish community, as well as allegedly discriminating against Jewish staff.
It was the paltry police response to the violent demonstration outside of Adas Torah synagogue on June 23 that prodded Schirn to speak out. “This is the first time that I have no confidence in our office treating a Jewish victim the same as anyone else,” he said. “I’ve worked here for over 30 years and I have younger Jewish lawyers walk into my office constantly and they’re concerned and scared about this administration. And so I decided that because I’ve worked here for so long that I have a responsibility to teach younger people to speak up. People who are working with me come into my office and are worried because they’re Jewish and they work here, concerned that they’re not going to be treated the same as anyone else. They see who he boasts about with his [campaign] endorsements. They see what he says in these cases. And they feel like that because they’re Jewish, that as long as Gascón is the DA, their career is going to stall too.”
Nathan Hochman, who is running against Gascón in November, gave a quote to the Journal:
“It should not be hard for Gascón to strongly condemn antisemitism and the violence at the L.A. synagogue, as I and many leaders including Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Newsom have done,” Hochman said in a statement to the Journal. “It’s extremely concerning that Gascón apparently cares more about placating anti-Jewish extremists than he does about standing up for L.A.’s Jewish community.” He continued, “My support for our Jewish community and my strong stance against extremism and hate has been clear and unequivocal — something that cannot be said about Gascón and his lack of leadership on this and too many other issues.
Gascón benefited from millions of dollars in spending on his behalf by left-wing billionaire George Soros. Soros happens to be Jewish but does not donate to Jewish causes; some of the groups he supports are in fact antisemitic.
Critics, including prosecutors in the district attorney’s office, accuse Gascón of allowing crime to run rampant in L.A. because of his ideological commitment to criminal justice reform. He has survived two recall attempts that never went to a vote.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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