Victims rights advocates joined with the support of Sheriff Alex Villanueva to launch a recall campaign against newly-elected Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón.
Gascón campaigned on a reform agenda when he successfully unseated incumbent DA Jackie Lacey last year. But after he took office and began detailing how many of those reforms would take shape, victims advocates and others in law enforcement and even from within Gascón’s own office have begun to protest.
Over the weekend, victims advocates officially kicked off their recall efforts after gathering the minimum of 20 signatures needed to formally begin the process. The group has 160 days to gather 580,000 signatures of registered voters to place the measure on the ballot.
Villanueva appeared at the rally, announcing his support for the recall.
“When we say it’s OK to not only join a criminal street gang, but engage in crime in furtherance of that criminal enterparies, and they face no consequence, we have a problem,” Villanueva said. “His name is George Gascón.”