Updates to the Post About the El Monte Cop Killer
Two days ago, I published a post about the killing of two El Monte police officers, citing a tweet from Bill Melugin alleging that the killer of those officers might be buried with all expenses paid by the District Attorney’s office. I also embedded tweets from Melugin alleging that the killer was free due to Gascón’s policies, which mandated a probationary sentence for a felon with a firearm charge, despite the killer having a strike on his record. I noted that the L.A. Times had not said a word about either matter.
There are updates to this story that merit a new post. First, Gascón has denied that his office will pay for the cop killer’s funeral:
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón on Thursday denied reports that his office will pay the funeral costs for the suspect in the El Monte police shooting under a policy he introduced.
“Those rumors are unfounded and incredibly disrespectful to the families and colleagues of the two fallen officers,” Gascón said in a statement. “We also hope people will stop playing politics with trauma and that we can all get serious about how we prevent serious violence before it begins.
To be clear, in the tweet I embedded in my post, Melugin was not passing along a “rumor” but merely observing that the written policy itself suggests that the D.A. would pay for the funeral:
Gascon’s policies also suggest his office may pay for the funeral of the cop killer. When he took office, he issued a policy stating his office would pay the funeral expenses of people killed by police, “regardless of the state of the investigation or charging decision.” @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/ZLcXpI4ivX
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) June 16, 2022
As you can see (if you click on the tweet and read page two of the policy, which does not appear in this embed), the policy states that the D.A.’s Bureau of Victim Services “will also contact the families of individuals killed by police and provide support services including funeral, burial and mental health services immediately following the death regardless of the state of the investigation or charging decision.” (My bold emphasis.) Gascón’s denial does not explain how he reconciles this policy, which appears to be mandatory and does not appear to set forth any exceptions, with his action in refusing to pay for the cop killer’s funeral.
Meanwhile, the Times has now published an article titled Top stories L.A. Dist. Atty. Gascón’s policy may have led to reduced prison time for man who killed El Monte officers:
Justin Flores, 35, who also died in Tuesday’s confrontation, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and methamphetamine when he was arrested by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in 2020.
Flores had been convicted of burglary in 2011. Burglaries are strike offenses, which make suspects charged with later crimes eligible for harsher sentences. Flores’ earlier conviction means he had one strike against him when he was charged in 2020.
But the prosecutor assigned to the case, Deputy Dist. Atty. Larry Holcomb, said he had to revoke the strike allegation after Gascón took office, according to a disposition report reviewed by The Times. That’s because the new D.A. had issued a “special directive” that barred prosecutors from filing strike allegations on his first day in office.
Gascón’s policy regarding strikes was later deemed illegal by a Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge, after the union representing rank-and-file prosecutors sued, seeking an injunction. In February 2021, Judge James Chalfant ruled Gascón’s policy violated California’s “three strikes” law, which requires prosecutors to file strike allegations whenever a defendant has a previous serious or violent felony conviction.
Gascón’s spokesman tried to put the blame on the line deputy and his supervisor for not seeking an exception. The supervisor is having none of it:
“The sentencing directive is presumptive. We empower DDAs to rebut that presumption if they believe extraordinary circumstances exist,” Santiago wrote. “Special Directive 20-08 states that ‘if the charged offense is probation eligible, probation shall be the presumptive offer absent extraordinary circumstances warranting a prison commitment.’ No such request was made in this case.”
But Deputy Dist. Atty. Martin Bean, who supervised the case and signed off in [sic] a disposition, said in an email to The Times that “Special Directive 20-08, which was issued at the moment the District Attorney was sworn in, required all strike priors to be dismissed. No exceptions were permitted by the directive.”
I thought these developments were significant enough to merit a new post.
As always, I make these statements based on publicly available news reports, as part of my First Amendment right to comment on matters of public interest. I do not speak for my office on this blog.
Happy Saturday.
Patterico (d6d977) — 6/18/2022 @ 12:29 pmGascon’s use of BLM, to defeat a respected Black DA, has always struck me a electoral blackface.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 6/18/2022 @ 6:09 pmThis is tough for P, I’m sure– and for his colleagues, too.
Genuinely admire the professional restraint. It’s hard when the problem is so clear to everybody.
DCSCA (3fb0e4) — 6/18/2022 @ 6:20 pmGascon’s use of BLM, to defeat a respected Black DA, has always struck me a electoral blackface.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 6/18/2022 @ 6:09 pm
Soros didn’t back Gascon and other commies like Boudin because he gives a squirt about black lives, he did it because he’s a globalist fanatic. BLM doesn’t give a squirt, either, they’re just a slush fund for the DNC that uses black liberationism as their grift.
Factory Working Orphan (0636b5) — 6/18/2022 @ 6:27 pmNot sure how I see that destroying respect for the Law enhances globalism.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 6/18/2022 @ 6:36 pmNot sure how I see that destroying respect for the Law enhances globalism.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 6/18/2022 @ 6:36 pm
That’s because you’re not a globalist fanatic with a god complex. If Soros is financially backing people for DA positions that deliberately undermine respect for the law and high-trust societies, then it stands to reason that this is part of what he believes is necessary to bring about whatever dumb conception he has for an internationalist utopia.
Factory Working Orphan (0636b5) — 6/18/2022 @ 7:14 pmMore in the Times:
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 6/18/2022 @ 10:16 pmThat would imply that there was an element of controversy there. But no one is claiming that the oerson killed was killed unjustly, and the phrase he issued a policy stating his office would pay the funeral expenses of people killed by police, “regardless of the state of the investigation or charging decision” is probably not in the text of the actual orders he issued.
Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 6/19/2022 @ 7:21 am“… individuals killed by police ..”
The latest reports seem to be that the guy killed himself so the policy would not apply.
Personally I would rather pay for the guys funeral than his living expenses for the next 40 years.
James B. Shearer (f43c69) — 6/19/2022 @ 7:40 amwill also contact the families of individuals killed by police and provide support services including funeral, burial and mental health services immediately following the death regardless of the state of the investigation or charging decision.”
It need not be interpreted as “pay for”. It can be: “Hello, Mrs. Flores? This is Waldo Schlembeicher from District Attorney Gascon’s office. We’re sorry for your loss. Do you know of a funeral home to do the funeral? You do? Great! Because my cousin Ernie has one near you, and he’s very reasonable. All right! Nice talking to you! Our condolences, again! Bye-bye!”
Comrades, you can call it written policy, but what it is is a politician’s promise.
nk (eba6ca) — 6/19/2022 @ 7:53 amFWO has a point. My take away is that you must first destroy trust in local law enforcement in order to suggest the alternative of federal law enforcement. Then you continue thast process by destroying trust in Federal LE to get to “global LE.
This is what I imagine to be a globalist’s mind-set.
felipe (484255) — 6/19/2022 @ 8:39 amGeorge Soros did not organize a vigilance committee and hang Sheriff Henry Plummer in Alder Gulch.
Do we know the percentage of Americans who 1) have trust in local law enforcement and 2) the percentage of trust that percentage has, and 3) for how long that percentage of the percentage has been waiting around for some Hungarian to destroy it?
nk (eba6ca) — 6/19/2022 @ 11:38 amI imagine that Soros has fellow travelers.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 6/19/2022 @ 11:57 amnk (eba6ca) — 6/19/2022 @ 11:38 am
I can only speak for myself.
1. I trust the ones I personally know and they trust the ones they personally know. I think I’ll ask what % of the force they trust.
2. I trust the ones I know 100%
3. Never waited for Soros or Godot.
felipe (484255) — 6/19/2022 @ 1:37 pmKevin M (eeb9e9) — 6/19/2022 @ 11:57 am
Yep. With so many people in the world, it’s bound to happen.
felipe (484255) — 6/19/2022 @ 1:37 pmGood post. Thank you.
DRJ (fe3efe) — 6/19/2022 @ 5:05 pmHere is a youtube video that would persuade many people to be very wary of the po-po.
felipe (484255) — 6/19/2022 @ 5:18 pm“Gascon’s denial does not explain how he reconciles this policy.”
If you take it at face value, it means he assumes no shooting by police officers is ever justified. Gascon seems to be worried about his job.
DN (f72143) — 6/19/2022 @ 6:55 pmThe police don’t need Soros’ help in destroying trust in law enforcement.
Davethulhu (054e7d) — 6/20/2022 @ 3:57 pmI listened to Gascon’s mustelid/polecat-like statement today. Some people will capitulate to the stench
steveg (388e25) — 6/21/2022 @ 5:31 pm