The campaign to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has reportedly gathered enough signatures that could make their plan a reality, Fox News reporter Bill Melugin announced on Wednesday.
The campaign has reached the threshold of 567,000 signatures, which is enough to initiate a recall, but it wants an additional 100,000 – 150,000 signatures to ensure the recall qualifies as the campaign expects the registrar to deem some invalid.
According to a tweet from Melugin, those working to have Gascón recalled stated that they had reached the required number of signatures — 567,000 — early Wednesday, racking up some 30,000+ in the last few days alone. Their plan, according to Melugin’s report, is to continue gathering signatures in case some of them cannot be properly verified.
“BREAKING: The campaign to recall LA DA @GeorgeGascon tells me they hit the necessary 567,000 signatures today, and have received 30,000+ signatures in the last few days alone. They need 566,857 *verified* by July 6th, and are aiming for 650k + by then for ‘padding,'” Melugin tweeted.
“The campaign tells me some of the signatures will inevitably be thrown out, which is why they want to build as much padding or ‘cushion’ as possible before the deadline. They believe 650-700k would lock it in to qualify. ‘We are within striking distance of Gascon,’ they tell me,” he added.
The campaign tells me some of the signatures will inevitably be thrown out, which is why they want to build as much padding or “cushion” as possible before the deadline.
They believe 650-700k would lock it in to qualify.
“We are within striking distance of Gascon,” they tell me.— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) June 15, 2022
Gascón has been under fire recently as violent crime in Los Angeles has continued to rise while his soft-on-crime policies do little to “reform” criminal justice as he promised.
One woman, after a teenaged driver in a stolen vehicle nearly killed her and her 8-month-old baby, addressed Gascón’s plan to send the perpetrator to “juvie camp” for a few months.
“George Gascón doesn’t value my life or the life of my child, or any other victim out there and would rather reward the monsters … by demonstrating to them that their actions have no consequences,” she said in a victim impact statement. “DA Gascón is telling him and every other thug in LA County that it doesn’t matter if you try to murder people. Why are Gascón’s policies prioritizing the livelihood of rotten monsters when my child, my baby, who is incapable of protecting himself, is left to fend for himself, and is essentially being told his life doesn’t matter?”
And the criminals certainly appear to have gotten the message. According to Melugin’s reporting a week earlier, as plans to recall Gascón began to gain momentum, audio surfaced of a gang member charged with murder asking his attorneys to “hurry up and make a deal” while Gascón still held the office.
The gang member feared that with Gascón out of the way, whoever took his place might “bring back that bulls*** life without parole and death penalty.”
EXCLUSIVE: In jailhouse audio we’ve obtained, Willie Wilkerson, a gang member charged w/ murder, says his attorney wants to hurry up and make a deal before LA DA @GeorgeGascon possibly gets recalled and “they bring back that bullshit life without parole & death penalty." @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/pkmj6sCVTm
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) June 8, 2022
This article has been updated with additional information from the recall campaign.