The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has stripped Sheriff Alex Villanueva of his designation as the county&#8217;s chief of emergency operations, citing the historical inability of the sheriff’s office to navigate disaster response efforts during the 2018 Woolsey Fire, which occurred before Villanueva was elected. 
The <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-31/supervisors-vote-remove-sheriff-emergency-operations">Los Angeles Times</a> reports that the unanimous decision was made on Tuesday morning, several months after the board of supervisors brought up the need to remove the emergency responsibilities from the sheriff’s office. The decision does not change Villanueva&#8217;s designation as sheriff, a position he was elected to serve until 2022. 
The decision consolidates the emergency response duties with the county’s chief executive, a move Villanueva has called a “brazen attempt to consolidate power.”
“This is pretty much a silent coup, what they’re trying to orchestrate,” Villanueva <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-25/supervisors-remove-sheriff-villanueva-coronavirus">previously told</a> the news agency, remarking that the board of supervisors was retaliating against him for trying to close gun shops. “We should be worried about masks, about test kits.”
“This is not about him,” Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said at Tuesday’s meeting, which was conducted online, reports the news agency. “He was not really elected to represent county residents. The five of us were,” she continued, arguing the move was a matter of public safety. 
During the board of supervisors meeting, Villanueva expressed his objection to the move, arguing that they were simply adding additional layers to the bureaucracy, which would hinder the county’s disaster response efforts, reports <a href="https://www.foxla.com/news/sheriff-villanueva-ousted-as-as-head-of-emergency-operations-in-midst-of-coronavirus-pandemic">Fox News</a>. 
&#8220;The last thing you want in the world is to have voices that have a different point of view silenced,&#8221; Villanueva said at the virtual meeting. &#8220;I&#8217;m the voice of Los Angeles County.&#8221; 
According to <a href="http://sgvtribune.com/2020/03/31/la-county-ceo-postpones-retirement-due-to-coronavirus-crisis/">The San Gabriel Valley Tribune</a>, Sachi Hamai, the county’s chief executive and appointee to head disaster response coordination, was supposed to retire on March 31, the very same day the county transferred power away from the sheriff and toward the chief executive’s office. Hami has since announced she will postpone retirement to serve in the new position. 
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/la-sheriff-closes-gun-stores-again-second-amendment-groups-file-lawsuit">The Daily Wire</a> previously reported, the sheriff has deemed gun shops as non-essential businesses on two occasions during the coronavirus pandemic — and reversed himself both times. 
The most recent time the sheriff decided to close gun shops was after Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) told him that the sheriff’s office can, in fact, close them during an emergency. 
This reasoning prompted several Second Amendment groups, including the National Rifle Association and the California Gun Rights Association, to file a lawsuit against both the governor and the sheriff. 
“Twenty-eight years ago, the LAPD had to withdraw their officers to protect their safety,” said Gene Hoffman, chairman of the CGRA. “We hope that the stay-home orders will mean that our public servants will not become infected in this pandemic, but the Constitution guarantees that everyone has a right to acquire arms and defend themselves should law enforcement not be able to respond before it’s too late.”
But after the groups filed the lawsuit against Villanueva, the sheriff once again reversed his decision to ban gun shops, this time citing the Trump administration’s new guidelines that deem shooting ranges and gun shops as essential businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, reported The LA Times.

Los Angeles County Sheriff

Los Angeles Strips Gunstore-Closing Sheriff Of Emergency Title

Guns

Los Angeles

Several Second Amendment advocacy groups have filed a federal lawsuit against Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva for enacting policies designed to restrict access to firearms in a time of crisis. 
The organizations, which includes groups like the National Rifle Association and the Firearms Policy Coalition, filed the lawsuit the day after Villanueva declared he would shut down the county’s gun stores as a public safety measure. Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and two public health officials are also named as defendants in the lawsuit. 
Gene Hoffman, the chairman of the California Gun Rights Foundation, invoked the 1992 LA Riots to describe why the Second Amendment remains an especially critical Constitutional guarantee — one that cannot be suspended by a “petty autocrat.”
“Twenty-eight years ago, the LAPD had to withdraw their officers to protect their safety. We hope that the stay-home orders will mean that our public servants will not become infected in this pandemic, but the Constitution guarantees that everyone has a right to acquire arms and defend themselves should law enforcement not be able to respond before it’s too late,” said Hoffman in a press release. 
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/los-angeles-gun-shops-to-stay-open-after-county-lawyer-disputes-decision">The Daily Wire</a> previously reported, Villanueva has argued that gun stores are not essential to the county during a pandemic, and was targeting them specifically, in part, because he had received complaints about a lack of social-distancing at gun stores. 
“We have received complaints from particular businesses that have not been adhering to the social distancing. Chief among them gunshops, nightclubs, bars, and strip clubs, so we have fanned out and are making sure these business are complying,” said Villanueva, reports <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-24/l-a-county-sheriff-gun-stores-owners-must-close-or-face-citations-amid-coronavirus-restrictions">The Los Angeles Times</a>. 
“I’m a supporter of the 2nd amendment, I’m a gun owner myself, but now you have the mixture of people that are not formerly gun owners,” said the sheriff, reports <a href="https://www.foxla.com/news/la-county-sheriff-orders-gun-stores-to-close-adds-1300-deputies-to-patrol">Fox News</a>. “You have a lot more people at home and anytime you introduce a firearm in a home, from what I understand from CDC studies, it increases fourfold the chance that someone is gonna get shot.”
According to <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-25/supervisors-remove-sheriff-villanueva-coronavirus">The Los Angeles Times</a>, the sheriff is currently involved in a dispute with the board of supervisors, which is trying to remove him as the head of emergency crisis operations for the county. 
“This is pretty much a silent coup, what they’re trying to orchestrate,” Villanueva told the news agency, remarking that the board of supervisors was retaliating against him for trying to close gun shops. “We should be worried about masks, about test kits.”
Supervisor Sheila Kuehl has said that the move is about consolidating the crisis management operation, not about the sheriff. 
“I think the sheriff erroneously believes that centering the response to this crisis to the Office of Emergency Management is somehow a dis to him,” said Kuehl, reports the news agency. 
According to <a href="https://www.dailynews.com/2020/03/26/l-a-county-supervisors-might-remove-sheriff-villanueva-as-emergency-management-chief/">The Los Angeles Daily News</a>, Supervisor Kathryn Barger has echoed these sentiments, saying that the move began in November after an audit revealed that public agencies weren’t cooperating during the 2018 Woolsey Fire in Malibu, California. 
“The sheriff was provided with an opportunity to talk about this in November,” said Barger, reports the news agency. “As far as I’m concerned, I have moved on.”

A man chooses a gun at the Gun Gallery i

LA Sheriff Closes Gun Stores Again, Second Amendment Groups File Lawsuit

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who also serves as the city’s director of emergency operations during a crisis, has reversed a city-wide effort to close gun stores after the county’s top attorney disputed the move in a legal opinion. 
In a Twitter post early Wednesday morning, Villanueva announced that the sheriff’s department would halt efforts to close gun stores, and shared a video from Fox News revealing the decision was made after the county’s attorney intervened. 
“Tonight the sheriff told me in a phone call that he is stopping, halting all efforts to enforce the closure of any local guns stores, at least for now,” reporter Bill Mulligan said in the video. “He says that’s because the county’s top lawyer put out a legal opinion that she believes gun stores are essential businesses and should remain open.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
LA County Sheriff’s Dept. Enforcement efforts to close non-essential businesses have been suspended. CA Gov. Gavin Newsom to determine what qualifies as a non-essential business. Please click to view story <a href="https://t.co/HrRD8VKcUG">https://t.co/HrRD8VKcUG</a>
— Alex Villanueva (@LACoSheriff) <a href="https://twitter.com/LACoSheriff/status/1242750540158603265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2020</a></blockquote>
Villanueva has appealed to California&#8217;s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, for guidance. The sheriff previously argued gun stores should close because they weren’t &#8220;essential&#8221; to the city, reports <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-24/l-a-county-sheriff-gun-stores-owners-must-close-or-face-citations-amid-coronavirus-restrictions">The Los Angeles Times</a>.
“Gun shops, strip clubs, night clubs are nonessential businesses. We are trying to get them to close their doors,” said Villanueva, who clarified that the department would not arrest business owners for defying the order to close. “If they don’t close their doors, they will be cited.”
 The sheriff told the news agency that the city was receiving many complaints about gun shops in particular: “We have received complaints from particular businesses that have not been adhering to the social distancing. Chief among them gunshops, nightclubs, bars, and strip clubs, so we have fanned out and are making sure these business are complying.”
In an interview with <a href="https://www.foxla.com/news/la-county-sheriff-orders-gun-stores-to-close-adds-1300-deputies-to-patrol">Fox News</a>, Villanueva said he was a Second Amendment supporter, but was concerned about an influx of first-time buyers at gun stores. 
“I’m a supporter of the 2nd amendment, I’m a gun owner myself, but now you have the mixture of people that are not formerly gun owners,” said the sheriff, reports the news agency. “You have a lot more people at home and anytime you introduce a firearm in a home, from what I understand from CDC studies, it increases fourfold the chance that someone is gonna get shot.”
One-hundred miles south of the city, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore has reached the <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6818580-Sheriff-Gore-Statement-on-Firearm-Retailers.html">opposite conclusion</a>, and argued Tuesday that keeping gun shops open would prevent people from seeking them through illegal means. 
“The Sheriff’s Department recognizes the importance of licensed firearm retailers given the heightened concern for public safety. Licensed firearm retailers provide a valuable public service by conducting registrations, backgrounds and ensuring waiting periods are complied with,” said the sheriff’s Tuesday press release. 
“We do not want to drive lawful sales of firearms to an underground or off the books black market during these difficult times,” said the document.

Blue Ridge Arsenal Gun Store

Los Angeles Gun Shops To Stay Open After County Lawyer Disputes Decision

Coronavirus

Left-wing Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Tuesday that small business owners who do not adhere to his coronavirus mandate and shut down their &#8220;nonessential&#8221; businesses could be criminally charged and have their water and power shut off.
&#8220;If you don&#8217;t (shut down), we will shut you down,&#8221; the mayor threatened his constituents.
So-called &#8220;nonessential businesses,&#8221; which include bars, gyms, gun shops, and hair salons, have been forced to shutter under the mayor&#8217;s order, indisputably causing direct economic pain for employers and their employees, at no fault of their own.
While employers likely see their own actions as necessary to stay afloat and pay their employees, Garcetti slammed them as &#8220;irresponsible and selfish.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;re still getting reports, each day, of nonessential businesses that continue to operate as normal. This behavior is irresponsible and selfish,&#8221; said the mayor. &#8220;It may serve a few people for a moment, but it will put all of us at risk for a long time.&#8221;
Garcetti&#8217;s so-called &#8220;Safer at Home Business Ambassadors Program&#8221; plan will crack down on businesses not adhering to his shutdown mandate.
At his directive, businesses that refuse to shutter should &#8220;expect to get a warning call from local prosecutors before the city takes more aggressive action, including turning off their water and power,&#8221; the mayor outlined, according to the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-25/la-water-power-businesses-coronavirus-closure-rules">Los Angeles Times</a>.
Moreover, Garcetti said employers could also be hit with a misdemeanor charge if they continue to serve the public.
&#8220;If a nonessential business is refusing to comply with the order, city workers and volunteers from my crisis response team will join the LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) in obtaining voluntary compliance with our directive,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;We are ready to deploy these folks, identify businesses that are not doing what they are supposed to, issue initial warnings, and if necessary, share information on occurring noncompliant establishments with LAPD for further enforcement that may result in a referral to the city attorney&#8217;s office or citation actions,&#8221; he added.
The mayor encouraged L.A. residents to refer businesses that do not comply with his mandate to authorities. “They will wind up facing a misdemeanor charge and DWP will step in to shut off their water and power.&#8221;
&#8220;You know who you are, you need to stop it,&#8221; Garcetti threatened noncompliant business owners. &#8220;This is your chance to step up and to shut it down, because if you don&#8217;t, we will shut it down.&#8221;
Reiterating his plan on social media, Garcetti posted: &#8220;Let me be clear: it is unacceptable for non-essential businesses to continue their operations as normal,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;I announced the Safer at Home Business Ambassadors Program to help ensure businesses comply with our emergency order to keep our communities safe.&#8221;
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Let me be clear: it is unacceptable for non-essential businesses to continue their operations as normal. 
I announced the Safer at Home Business Ambassadors Program to help ensure businesses comply with our emergency order to keep our communities safe. <a href="https://t.co/7eMFdg1PSa">https://t.co/7eMFdg1PSa</a>
&mdash; Mayor Eric Garcetti (@MayorOfLA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MayorOfLA/status/1242634851724832768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Currently, Los Angeles county has <a href="http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/">662 confirmed cases</a> of novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, and a total of 11 deaths.
In <a href="https://www.bing.com/covid/local/newyork_unitedstates">New York</a>, where there has been more testing than anywhere else in the country, there is a total of 26,348 confirmed cases, and 271 fatalities.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stanford-professors-coronavirus-death-rate-estimate-likely-orders-of-magnitude-too-high">Stanford Professors: Coronavirus Death Rate Estimate Likely ‘Orders Of Magnitude Too High’</a>

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti

L.A. Mayor Scolds ‘Selfish’ Business Owners For Staying Open; Threatens To Criminally Charge Them, Shut Off Water, Power 

Eric Garcetti

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva told Fox News on Tuesday morning that he has ordered all gun stores in the county to close, a move that will begin taking place immediately. 
“LA County Sheriff tells me he is beginning to close county gun stores immediately,” tweeted Fox News reporter Bill Melugin. “Deputies are currently going to the stores one by one to order them shut down. Sheriff to utilize scofflaw violations for any store still open after he deemed them nonessential.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
BREAKING: LA County Sheriff tells me he is beginning to close county gun stores immediately. Deputies are currently going to the stores one by one to order them shut down. Sheriff to utilize scofflaw violations for any gun store still open after he deemed them nonessential <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXLA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FOXLA</a>
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillFOXLA/status/1242510531426017280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2020</a></blockquote>
According to <a href="https://www.foxla.com/news/la-county-sheriff-orders-gun-stores-to-close-adds-1300-deputies-to-patrol">Fox News</a>, the sheriff, who is also the official director of emergency operations during times of crisis, said that the closures were, in part, motivated by an influx of first-time gun owners purchasing weapons. He later told the news agency that the increase in first-time buyers was creating social distancing problems at gun stores. 
“We will be closing them, they are not an essential function,” Villanueva said, the news agency reported. “I’m a supporter of the 2nd amendment, I’m a gun owner myself, but now you have the mixture of people that are not formerly gun owners and you have a lot more people at home and anytime you introduce a firearm in a home, from what I understand from CDC studies, it increases fourfold the chance that someone is gonna get shot.”
The move was taken alongside an effort to close down other businesses, including bars and strip clubs, according to <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-24/l-a-county-sheriff-gun-stores-owners-must-close-or-face-citations-amid-coronavirus-restrictions">The Los Angeles Times.</a>
“Gun shops, strip clubs, night clubs are nonessential businesses. We are trying to get them to close their doors,” said Villanueva, reported the news agency. “If they don’t close their doors, they will be cited.” 
The sheriff also clarified that no one would be jailed as a result of the order, and similar closures had already been ordered in Northern California, Fox News reported. 
<a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/03/18/coronavirus-san-jose-orders-gun-store-to-close-in-one-of-first-tests-of-essential-under-shelter-order/">The Mercury News</a> reported that the city of San Jose, California, which has more than 1 million people, ordered the closure of gun stores last week, citing concerns that people were panic buying weapons. 
“We are having panic buying right now for food,” said San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo. “The one thing we cannot have is panic buying of guns.”
Villanueva told Fox News in an interview that he was also increasing the number of sheriff deputies on patrol by 1,300. The sheriff also blasted local politicians for failing to convince the public to take the coronavirus threat seriously. 
“When we’re communicating the shelter in place or the safer at home, there’s a lot of anguish, however, the people who have to enforce it are public safety, and we were totally out of the process, we were not involved,” said the sheriff, as reported by Fox News. 
The city has also closed parks, trails, and beach parking lots because of &#8220;overcrowding&#8221; concerns, according to <a href="https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/la-county-parks-trails-state-beach-parking-lots-shut-down-after-overcrowding-amid-coronavirus-outbreak/2334163/">NBC Los Angeles.</a>

LA Sheriff Closing Gun Stores Via Non-Essential Order, Also Cites First-Time Buyer Concerns

Fox News

One week after he ordered that all restaurants, bars, movie theaters, and gyms would be closed to help enforce social distancing amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti ordered that more public gathering sites will be closed, including the Venice Beach Boardwalk.
During a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/fox11la/videos/145759526777128">news conference</a> Sunday, Garcetti said that beach parking lots and other areas of the city will be closed after the public repeatedly congregated in large numbers throughout the week. He also banned all group sporting events.
&#8220;Don&#8217;t mess around,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This is too important&#8221;
On top of the closures, Garcetti also announced that the city will be launching a portal in the next few days where the city residents most vulnerable to COVID-19, those 65 and older with preexisting conditions, can be tested if they are showing symptoms.
The city&#8217;s homeless population, one of the worst in the country, will be moved into city rec centers, Garcetti explained. The city is working to have 42 centers opened for that initiative, as <a href="https://www.foxla.com/news/garcetti-announces-further-public-closures-including-venice-beach-boardwalk">Fox 11</a> reports.
The Democratic mayor also thanked President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for ordering the hospital ship, Mercy, into the port of Los Angeles. As The Daily Wire reported last week, the U.S. Navy activated two hospital ships, one on each coast, to provide additional beds for non-COVID-19 cases.
Garcetti also announced a new fund to provide childcare for health workers as well as &#8220;assistance for the needy and meals for seniors,&#8221; Fox 11 reports. &#8220;The goal, he said, is to raise $25 million as soon as possible for the fund.&#8221;
On Twitter, Garcetti expressed displeasure toward city residents &#8220;packing beaches, trails and parks&#8221; throughout the weekend, advising them to practice social distancing. 
&#8220;This weekend we saw too many people packing beaches, trails and parks,&#8221; tweeted the mayor. &#8220;So we are closing sports and recreation at [city parks] and closing parking at city beaches. That doesn’t mean gather elsewhere. This is serious. Stay home and save lives.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This weekend we saw too many people packing beaches, trails and parks. So we are closing sports and recreation at <a href="https://twitter.com/LACityParks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LACityParks</a> and closing parking at city beaches. That doesn’t mean gather elsewhere. This is serious. Stay home and save lives.
&mdash; Mayor Eric Garcetti (@MayorOfLA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MayorOfLA/status/1241908563590578177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 23, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Garcetti&#8217;s closure announcement came two days after he warned city residents that Los Angeles hospitals will be overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients in the course of the next week.
&#8220;Whether it’s six days, or nine days… we’re about to be overwhelmed, which means people won’t get into our hospitals, people who don’t just have COVID-19 could lose their lives,” Garcetti said on the <a href="https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/1240968755083202560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1240968755083202560&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fworld%2F2020%2F03%2F20%2Fcoronavirus-latest-news%2F">“Today” show</a>. &#8220;There will be millions of people who do get this. Most of them will come through this very strongly.”
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/boris-johnson-uk-coronavirus-tougher-measures-warning">also warned</a> over the weekend that his government would enforce stricter measures if people do not practice social distancing.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-democrats-block-coronavirus-bill-that-provides-lifeline-to-economy-families">Democrats Block Coronavirus Bill That Provides Lifeline To Economy, Families</a>

Californians Face New Normal Amid Coronavirus Lockdown

Los Angeles: Mayor Announces More Closures To Force Social Distancing

Los Angeles County and the city of Los Angeles announced a series of strict orders on Thursday night aimed at stopping the outbreak of the coronavirus, which originated in China.
&#8220;The Los Angeles County order requires all indoor malls, shopping centers, playgrounds and nonessential retail businesses to close and prohibits gatherings of more than 10 people in enclosed spaces,&#8221; The Los Angeles Times <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-19/as-coronavirus-spreads-california-puts-national-guard-on-alert-asks-u-s-navy-for-help">reported</a>. &#8220;The city of Los Angeles order is much more restrictive. It requires all nonessential businesses to close, with companies able to operate only through work-at-home arrangements. The order also bans all public gatherings of any size outside homes.&#8221;
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said, “All businesses, including museums, malls, retail stores, for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations, must stop operations that require workers to be present in person. No public and private gatherings of any size that would occur outside of a single home will be allowed, with clear exceptions.”
The Los Angeles Times noted that &#8220;essential businesses&#8221; include &#8220;grocery stores, food banks and outdoor farmers markets; schools; child care; businesses that provide food, shelter, social services and other necessities of life for economically disadvantaged people; gas stations; banks and financial institutions; hardware stores, plumbers and electricians; healthcare operators and facilities; transportation services; and residential facilities.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I’m issuing a Safer at Home emergency order — ordering all residents of <a href="https://twitter.com/LACity?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LACity</a> to stay inside their homes and immediately limit all nonessential movement. We’re taking this urgent action to limit the spread of COVID-19 and save lives. <a href="https://t.co/4yVdjXMEJ0">https://t.co/4yVdjXMEJ0</a> <a href="https://t.co/QscQUbqkaC">pic.twitter.com/QscQUbqkaC</a>
&mdash; Mayor Eric Garcetti (@MayorOfLA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MayorOfLA/status/1240801250720927745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statewide order on Thursday night for the entire state of California to stay home in an effort to combat the coronavirus which he said would infect the majority of the state within the next 8 weeks if extreme measures were not taken.
“We’re not victims of circumstance, we can make decisions to meet moments, and this is a moment we need to make tough decisions,” Newsom said. “This is a moment where we need some straight talk and we need to tell people the truth.”
“We need to the bend the curve in the state of California and in order to do that we need to recognize the reality,” Newsom continued. “The fact is, the experience we are having on the ground throughout the state of California, the experience that is manifesting all across the United States, and for that matter, around the rest of the world, requires us to adjust our thinking and to adjust our activities.”
“In the state of California many people are very familiar with these adjustments,” Newsom continued. “A number of days ago, there were six bay area counties that led with stay-at-home orders. Now, as I speak, some 21.3 million Californians reside in a community in a city and or county that have similar orders.”
“A state as large as ours, a nation-state, is many parts, but at the end of the day, we are one body,” Newsom said. “There is a mutuality and there’s a recognition of our interdependence that requires of this moment that we direct a statewide order for people to stay at home.”
“That directive goes into force and effect this evening and we are confident that the people of the state of California will abide by it, will do the right thing, they’ll meet this moment, they’ll step up, as they have over the course of the last number of weeks to protect themselves, to protect their families, and to protect the broader community in this great state in the world that we reside in,” Newsom continued.
“As I say, there is a social contract here, people I think recognize the need to do more and to meet this moment,” Newsom said. “People will self-regulate their behavior, they’ll begin to adjust and adapt as they have been quite significantly. We will have social pressure that will encourage people to do the right thing, just a nod and look saying, ‘hey, maybe you should reconsider just being out there on the beach, being 22 strong at a park.’”
“I don’t believe the people of California need to be told through law enforcement that it’s appropriate just to home isolate, protect themselves, go about the essential patterns of life but do so by socially distancing themselves from others and do so using your common sense,”  Newsom said.

US-HEALTH-VIRUS

Los Angeles Announces Strict New Orders To Stop Spread Of Coronavirus

California

Some inmates in Los Angeles County jails are being released and far fewer bookings are occurring amid growing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
As reported by the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-16/la-jail-population-arrests-down-amid-coronavirus">Los Angeles Times</a>, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department revealed that it&#8217;s taking decisive measures in an attempt to &#8220;combat coronavirus,&#8221; including releasing over 600 inmates from its jails and slashing the number of arrests officers usually make.
&#8220;Sheriff Alex Villanueva said deputies and police officers across the county have been directed to cite and release people whenever possible, instead of arresting them, and to seek medical clearance before booking anyone who shows symptoms,&#8221; the Times reports. &#8220;Countywide, he said, arrests have dropped from a daily average of 300 to 60, while the jail population was reduced by more than 600 inmates.&#8221;
&#8220;Our population within our jail is a vulnerable population just by virtue of who they are and where they’re located,&#8221; Villanueva told the press Monday. &#8220;So we’re protecting that population from potential exposure.&#8221;
L.A. County Sheriff&#8217;s Department is not the only office in California to take drastic action. As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/san-francisco-public-defender-seeks-immediate-release-of-some-jail-inmates-due-to-coronavirus">The Daily Wire</a> reported Monday, the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office filed motions last week &#8220;seeking the immediate release of all inmates being held pretrial in county jails who are considered more susceptible to catching coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).&#8221;
“We are taking action to protect older adults and those with compromised immune systems who are extremely vulnerable right now,” <a href="https://sfpublicdefender.org/news/2020/03/public-defender-seeks-immediate-release-for-people-in-jail-with-short-sentences-and-heightened-risk-of-coronavirus/">said</a> S.F. Public Defender Mano Raju. “People who are incarcerated in jail are already exposed to an unsafe environment. The cramped and unsanitary conditions in jail put the older or immunocompromised population at a much greater risk of contracting and spreading coronavirus.”
In its report on the release of inmates in Los Angeles County, the L.A. Times also notes that on Wednesday the state of California announced the suspension of visitations to state prisons.
The LA County sheriff&#8217;s actions come amid increased calls to release inmates from civil rights advocates across the country, among them the Legal Aid Society, which is joining with public defenders to push for inmate release and for a moratorium on all arrests.
&#8220;A coronavirus outbreak in our overcrowded, poorly maintained jails and prison facilities would be devastating, swift, and deadly,&#8221; NYC Defenders said in a statement promoted by the Legal Aid Society last week.
&#8220;We’re calling for an immediate moratorium on NYPD arrests,&#8221; the Legal Aid Society tweeted. &#8220;We are in the midst of a pandemic and our last priority should be to cycle New Yorkers through our broken criminal justice system, separated from their families, communities, and quality services.&#8221;
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BREAKING: NYC Defenders call for immediate release of vulnerable incarcerated New Yorkers in response to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVID19</a>.
 &quot;A coronavirus outbreak in our overcrowded, poorly maintained jails and prison facilities would be devastating, swift, and deadly.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/lAykgT1eKD">pic.twitter.com/lAykgT1eKD</a>
&mdash; The Legal Aid Society (@LegalAidNYC) <a href="https://twitter.com/LegalAidNYC/status/1238218556610940929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
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We’re calling for an immediate moratorium on NYPD arrests.
“We are in the midst of a pandemic and our last priority should be to cycle New Yorkers through our broken criminal justice system, separated from their families, communities, and quality services.”
More: <a href="https://t.co/hnkno2iwHf">pic.twitter.com/hnkno2iwHf</a>
&mdash; The Legal Aid Society (@LegalAidNYC) <a href="https://twitter.com/LegalAidNYC/status/1239606155133030400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Along with the criminal justice system implementing significant measures in California, major cities are imposing severe restrictions on residents&#8217; and businesses activities. The most drastic of the coronavirus &#8220;shut down&#8221; responses thus far has been implemented in San Francisco.
In a <a href="https://www.sfdph.org/dph/alerts/files/HealthOrderC19-07-%20Shelter-in-Place.pdf">health order</a> issued Monday, San Francisco’s Department of Public Health ordered that all individuals living in the county, excluding the homeless population, must &#8220;shelter at their place of residence except that they my leave to provide or receive certain essential services or engage in certain essential activities and work for essential business and government services.&#8221; All businesses and government agencies must &#8220;cease non-essential operations at physical locations in the county,&#8221; the order mandates, and all “non-essential gatherings of any number of individuals&#8221; and &#8220;non-essential travel&#8221; are prohibited. &#8220;Violation of or failure to comply with this Order is a misdemeanor punishable by fine, imprisonment, or both,&#8221; San Francisco&#8217;s health order states.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/san-francisco-imposes-strictest-shutdown-in-nation-leaves-many-unanswered-questions">San Francisco Imposes Strictest Shutdown In Nation, Leaves Many Unanswered Questions</a>
&nbsp;

Open door to prison cell

L.A. Releases More Than 600 Inmates, Slashes Arrests To ‘Combat Coronavirus’

The city of Los Angeles got an extra dose of coronavirus reality on Sunday when Mayor Eric Garcetti ordered that all bars, gyms, movie theaters, and in-person dining restaurants be closed to further halt the spread of the virus.
According to <a href="https://abc7.com/health/garcetti-orders-sweeping-business-closures-to-contain-coronavirus/6016844/">ABC News</a>, restaurants can remain open so long as business is restricted to delivery, takeout, or drive-thru. Bars and nightclubs will be most severely hit by the closure due to St. Patrick&#8217;s day, arguably the biggest drinking holiday of the year. Though Garcetti is legally barred from ordering churches to close, he encouraged them to stop services for the benefit of public health.
&#8220;This is an absolutely critical moment in our city&#8217;s history,&#8221; Garcetti said. &#8220;We are all first responders. This isn&#8217;t just someone else&#8217;s responsibility, but it is the responsibility of each one of us. Your actions matter and they can and will save lives.&#8221;
Public libraries, zoos, and recreation centers have already been closed.
Garcetti also chastised people for engaging in &#8220;panic buy&#8221; by hoarding food, assuring people that stores will be regularly stocked. &#8221;
&#8220;You hoarding or buying too much is putting (others) at danger as well. So shop. Food is coming. We&#8217;re working with groceries to ensure it continues coming,&#8221; he said.
President Trump over the weekend similarly advised against hoarding during the coronavirus pandemic. “You don’t have to buy so much,” <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/15/trump-no-hoarding-coronavirus-grocery-stores-130771">he said</a>. “There’s no need for anybody in the country to hoard essential food supplies.”
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These are the emergency steps we are taking to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 &amp; protect people across LA, effective at midnight tonight. This isn’t easy &amp; I don&#39;t make this decision lightly. We will do everything we can to help businesses &amp; workers impacted during this time. <a href="https://t.co/FAAOcRBDn7">pic.twitter.com/FAAOcRBDn7</a>
&mdash; Mayor Eric Garcetti (@MayorOfLA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MayorOfLA/status/1239399376981602306?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Mayor Garcetti&#8217;s orders came hours after California Gov. Gavin Newsom called for seniors to self-isolate and for bars to close, though they were intended as a guidance rather than an order. Newsom also asked that restaurants reduce capacity by 50%.
Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/15/trump-no-hoarding-coronavirus-grocery-stores-130771">outlined some of the steps</a> the Trump administration is taking in concert with grocery stores to ensure that people will not be without supplies (formatting adjusted):
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Leslie Sarasin, president of FMI, the food industry association formerly known as the Food Marketing Institute, said the administration and industry are on the same page about making sure that “stores can stay open and stocked.&#8221;
Kroger, the country’s largest supermarket chain, said it is working with suppliers to more quickly replenish scarce items. Texas-based chain H-E-B is limiting purchases of food items from canned soup and beans to milk, eggs and chicken. Whole Foods is suspending its food sampling. Giant is urging customers to bring their own shopping bags because of the strain on its own supplies.
Sarasin added that retailers are also “seeking to be sensitive to the needs of all our customers and partners, including our WIC and SNAP shoppers and the food banks our stores support,” referring to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.
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Garcetti&#8217;s order follows Ohio Governor Mike DeWine&#8217;s (R) similarly ordering the closure of all bars and restaurants in the entire state. DeWine announced the following in a series of tweets Sunday.
&#8220;We will be issuing an order closing all bars and restaurants in [Ohio] beginning at 9:00 tonight,&#8221; DeWine announced. &#8220;Establishments can stay open for carry-out and delivery. What we can’t have is people congregating and seated. I’m aware that this will impact many, many good workers. I can’t tell you how sorry I am, but we will work to mitigate the suffering. It is our goal for everyone to get through this. Every day we delay, more people will die. If we do not act and get some distance between people, our healthcare system in [Ohio] will not hold up. The loss won’t only be those impacted by [COVID-19], but the danger is also to everyone else who needs hospital care for other issues.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-how-to-get-food-safely-delivered-during-coronavirus">Here’s How To Get Food Safely Delivered During Coronavirus</a>

Los Angeles: Mayor Garcetti Orders Closure Of All Bars, In-Dining Restaurants, Theaters And Gyms Amid Pandemic

A well-known community activist has demanded the leader of Black Lives Matter’s Los Angeles chapter step down, claiming a recent demonstration by the group has put the county’s top law enforcement official in danger.
The call comes from Najee Ali, who has a long-running feud with Black Lives Matter over whose style of activism best represents the interests of L.A.&#8217;s black community.
At a press conference on Friday, Ali condemned BLM-LA co-founder Melina Abdullah, who organized a protest at the residence of L.A. County District Attorney Jackie Lacey last Monday. Demonstrators gathered on Lacey’s front porch, banged on a drum, and rang her doorbell around 5:30 am. The disruption culminated with Lacey&#8217;s husband pointing a handgun out the couple’s front door, threatening to shoot the trespassers and ordering them to leave his property. <a href="https://twitter.com/Jasmyne/status/1234477040365031424">Partial video</a> of the encounter went viral.
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BREAKING?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BREAKING</a> This morning Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s husband pulled a gun out on Black Lives Matter activists who protested his wife in front of their house. <a href="https://twitter.com/BLMLA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BLMLA</a> <a href="https://t.co/wnCFMMvaWV">pic.twitter.com/wnCFMMvaWV</a>
&mdash; Jasmyne Cannick (@Jasmyne) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jasmyne/status/1234477040365031424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 2, 2020</a></blockquote>
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“They either need to disband altogether, or reorganize and place those in decision-making positions who actually know how to organize effective protest campaigns,” Ali told The Daily Wire.
Ali <a href="https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/black-lives-matter-jackie-lacey-protest/2324368/">described</a> the incident, which took place the day before the primary election, as a “cheap publicity stunt” that was “one of the dumbest protests in the history of Los Angeles activism.”
“Every murderer, rapist, and violent criminal Lacey has put in jail now has her home address thanks to Abdullah,” he said.
Lacey, a Democrat who has served as D.A. since 2012, needs more than 50% of the vote to avoid a November runoff. <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-08/district-attorney-jackie-lacey-reelection-husband-pointed-gun-at-protesters">According</a> to the L.A. Times, the results remain up in the air, with hundreds of thousands of ballots left to tally.
Both Ali and Abdullah oppose Lacey&#8217;s re-election for similar reasons. However, Ali said Abdullah&#8217;s tactics might have hurt efforts to elect a more progressive D.A., influencing public sentiment in Lacey’s favor.
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Beware of those who claim to speak for the Black community, but have no organizational membership, show up only for cameras, but not for the work, assault women, serve as police “consultants,” and echo arguments of White supremacists about Black folks needing to be civil.<a href="https://twitter.com/kcrw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kcrw</a>
&mdash; #BlackLivesMatter-LA (@BLMLA) <a href="https://twitter.com/BLMLA/status/1235989584170778625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;As she runs for a third term in office, it becomes imperative that she is held accountable,&#8221; Abdullah <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-08/district-attorney-jackie-lacey-reelection-husband-pointed-gun-at-protesters">told</a> the L.A. Times. &#8220;Demonstrating at the homes of public officials is a tried and true strategy employed by groups ranging from labor unions to students.&#8221;
Ali is part of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Crisis Response Team, a group that responds to traumatic incidents at the request of police and firefighters, acting as liaisons between the victim and emergency personnel. In a recent column published by the Los Angeles Wave, Ali pointed out BLM-LA’s history of disconcerting approaches, which include storming a church during a town hall meeting that featured Mayor Garcetti. Afterward, the pastor <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-black-lives-matter-mayor-garcetti-20151023-story.html">said</a> BLM activists had “cussed” at him in the sanctuary and accused them of “disrespect” and “verbal violence.”
&#8220;Black Lives Matter wants to portray its members as peaceful,&#8221; Ali <a href="http://wavenewspapers.com/najees-notes-black-lives-matter-may-have-helped-not-hurt-lacey/?fbclid=IwAR0WRfzwU06S0c_LIdlFOtqVlbg3pPqcIq6phYadiPweagJnPSwmWkTd5ZY">wrote</a>, &#8220;but the facts are Abdullah and other Black Lives Matter members and supporters have engaged in several public acts of intimidation of city and religious leaders in recent years.&#8221;
He went on to reference another protest in 2015 when Abdullah’s group <a href="https://splinternews.com/black-lives-matter-activists-occupy-sidewalk-in-front-o-1793848301#!">gathered</a> at Garcetti’s private residence at 6 am on a Sunday, requesting a meeting. Protesters camped on the sidewalk for three days in an action dubbed #OccupyLAMayor.
BLM-LA has since organized other protests outside Garcetti’s home. While demonstrating against a police shooting in 2016, Abdullah appeared to taunt Garcetti from the scene. She posted a video to Instagram, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BLDH6m9jCov/?utm_source=ig_embed">saying</a>, “You don’t get to kill our kids and think your kid gets to sleep in peace…we’re bringing the hood to you.” Garcetti’s daughter, Maya, was four years old at the time.
The following year, a court granted a restraining order against BLM-LA member Trevor Ferguson (also known as Trevor Gerard), who made uninvited visits to a police commissioner’s home and office. After hearing the testimony, a judge <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-police-commission-restraining-order-20170301-story.html">concluded</a> Ferguson intended to “incite fear.”
Abdullah once <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_rKkeKlb7Y&amp;feature=emb_title">told</a> another LAPD commissioner, “We know where your ass lives too, and we’ve got cars.”
L.A. City Attorney Mike Feuer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/los-angeles-drops-all-criminal-charges-against-jeffrey-cawood">dropped</a> eight criminal counts against Abdullah last summer stemming from her conduct at police commission meetings. Charges included battery on a police officer, and Abdullah could have faced jail time if convicted. Prosecutors had agreed to dismiss the charges if Abdullah adhered to specific behavior guidelines for a six-month period. In February, after all counts had been officially dropped, Abdullah <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-02-11/black-lives-matter-leader-sues-city-ex-police-chief-beck">filed</a> a federal lawsuit accusing the police of wrongful arrest and city attorney’s office of malicious prosecution. She is represented pro bono by attorney Carl E. Douglas, who became nationally known decades ago as a member of O.J. Simpson’s “Dream Team” of defense attorneys.

Najee Ali holds a rally with eight people in Leimert Park to support Michael Jackson. There werefiv

South L.A. Activist Demands BLM Leader Step Down After ‘Cheap Publicity Stunt’ At D.A.’s Home

Black Lives Matter

A <a href="http://archive.is/O3GJy">member</a> of Black Lives Matter who was a keynote speaker at last year’s DSA National Convention has been elected president of the largest teachers union in Los Angeles.
She’s <a href="http://laschoolreport.com/la-schools-protest-trump-in-districtwide-demonstrations/">rallied</a> against President Donald J. Trump. She’s <a href="https://twitter.com/wilpage4utlavp/status/1159610822529699840">pressured</a> politicians to stop building new jails. At a school board meeting in 2017, she <a href="http://laschoolreport.com/taking-a-knee-spreads-from-nfl-games-to-the-los-angeles-school-board-meeting/">took a knee</a> during the Pledge of Allegiance.
Cecily Myart-Cruz <a href="https://utlaelections.org/results/">captured</a> almost 69% of the vote last week when union members picked her to lead United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), which represents more than 30,000 educators, librarians, and counselors working in the nation’s second-largest public school system. The L.A. Times <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-02-29/first-woman-of-color-elected-to-lead-la-unified-teachers-union">reports</a> that Myart-Cruz is “the first woman of color” chosen for that position, adding, she “identifies as biracial, black and Latina” and “has long been part of the union’s activist wing.” She has 25 years of experience educating elementary and middle school kids.
“I see teaching as a revolutionary act, just the way I see organizing,” she has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwJ84Z_BLEw">said</a>.
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Myart-Cruz, 46, describes herself as an “organizer” and “activist.” She <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/los-angeles-teachers-strike-utla-organizing-solidarity/">helped form</a> a progressive caucus that gained control of UTLA in 2014, when she was elected as a vice president. The faction quickly changed the union from a service model to an organizing model, developing a plan that included children, parents, and local advocacy organizations.
UTLA <a href="https://www.blmla.org/who-we-are#ourteam">partnered</a> with Black Lives Matter and youth-led groups to push “racial justice” and education reforms within the L.A. Unified School District (LAUSD), which serves more than <a href="https://achieve.lausd.net/about">600,000</a> students. <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-edu-lausd-teachers-strike-guide-20190113-story.html">According</a> to the L.A. Times, “the overwhelming majority” of schoolkids come from low-income families. In a deal with the district that ended a six-day UTLA strike last year, Myart-Cruz <a href="https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/lausd-students-not-suspects-searches-metal-detectors-vote-motion-stop/80001/">claimed</a> to have negotiated on student-activists’ behalf. Part of the agreement led to the end of a mandatory, random search policy, which had been in place since 1993. BLM members and students had joined UTLA on the picket lines.
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Yes!!!!! OUR Cecily Myart-Cruz, the force behind <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackLivesMatterAtSchool?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlackLivesMatterAtSchool</a>, comrade in the fight to end random searches of our children in LAUSD, and courageous visionary, was elected as the first woman of color president of <a href="https://twitter.com/UTLAnow?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UTLAnow</a>!<a href="https://t.co/0ln3TliQoW">https://t.co/0ln3TliQoW</a>
&mdash; #BlackLivesMatter-LA (@BLMLA) <a href="https://twitter.com/BLMLA/status/1233818281242312704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 29, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Dr. Melina Abdullah, who leads BLM’s L.A. chapter, has called Myart-Cruz a “sister” and “comrade.” Both Abdullah and Myart-Cruz are part of a <a href="https://medium.com/@realjusticepac/jackie-lacey-must-go-55070572434">coalition</a> of black women who have been advocates of replacing L.A. County District Attorney Jackie Lacey with a more progressive prosecutor.
In 2016, UTLA and BLM <a href="https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/09/29/for-first-time-black-lives-matter-event-held-at-lausd-school/">co-sponsored</a> the first Black Lives Matter event held inside an L.A. public school. Myart-Cruz went on to help establish “Black Lives Matter In Schools” week, an annual observance that has since been <a href="https://ra.nea.org/business-item/2018-nbi-004/">adopted</a> by the National Education Association.
The union’s bond with BLM created a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/black-lives-matter-rally-causes-rift-between-jeffrey-cawood">conflict</a> with the school police department in 2018. UTLA had used its social media platforms to encourage “youth of color” to organize against “the over policing” of L.A. public schools.
“(Students) are not the future; they are the present,” Myart-Cruz <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwJ84Z_BLEw">told</a> her “sisters, brothers, and non-binary siblings” attending a national DSA gathering last August. “We need to wrap our arms around them because they are leading at this moment. And it is up to us to change where we are, to engage with them in a way that shakes the very foundation of our nation.”
“The time is now to lead, act boldly, and to be unapologetic in our quest for building power and complete liberation for our people.”
Outgoing UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl, who once <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/black-lives-matter-rally-causes-rift-between-jeffrey-cawood">called</a> The Daily Wire “a right-wing, Trump-supporting, anti-union rag,” is termed out of that position. However, he was elected to a vice president spot and will remain in an influential role. In effect, Caputo-Pearl and Myart-Cruz, who are allies, have swapped jobs. <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-02-29/first-woman-of-color-elected-to-lead-la-unified-teachers-union">According</a> to the L.A. Times, fewer than 5,300 UTLA members cast ballots out of approximately 31,000 eligible voters. Myart-Cruz takes over leadership duties in July.
Follow Jeffrey Cawood on Twitter @JeffreyCawood.

Los Angeles Teachers Go on Strike in Echo of National Fight

Black Lives Matter Member Elected To Lead Los Angeles’ Largest Teachers Union

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has been accused of trying to cover up the actions of Los Angeles sheriffs deputies, who allegedly took illicit photos of the Kobe Bryant crash site, after Villanueva received a complaint that a sheriff’s deputy was showing off graphic photos of the tragedy at a local bar. 
According to <a href="https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/sheriff-ordered-deletion-of-kobe-bryant-crash-photos-to-prevent-wider-distribution/2321002/">NBC News</a>, Villanueva has admitted to ordering deputies to delete graphic photos of the crash, which claimed the lives of eight people including the former Lakers basketball star’s 13-year-old daughter. 
&#8220;We&#8217;ve communicated in no uncertain terms that the behavior is inexcusable,&#8221; Villanueva told the news agency. &#8220;I mean, people are grieving for the loss of their loved ones. To have that on top of what they&#8217;ve already gone through is unconscionable. And, to think any member of our department would be involved in that.&#8221;
According to NBC News, Villanueva told deputies to delete the photos out of concern that they may leak to the media or other members of the public. Currently, it isn’t clear how many deputies had photos of the crash. 
While Villanueva told the news agency that no department-wide policies were violated by taking photos of the crash site, the Los Angeles Times has reported that there is a <a href="http://pars.lasd.org/Viewer/Manuals/10008/Content/10426">department policy</a> about taking photos with personal devices while on the job. 
Villanueva justified his decision to ask deputies to delete the photos in an interview with NBC News. 
“Had we done the original, usual routine, which was relieve everybody of duty and everybody lawyers up and all that, that would increase the odds 10-fold that those photos would have some how made their way into the public domain. And that&#8217;s definitely what we do not want,&#8221; Villanueva told the news agency. 
According to the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-03/kobe-bryant-crash-photos-sheriffs-department-tried-to-keep-quiet">Los Angeles Times</a>, the complaint sent to the sheriff’s office noted that a deputy had photos of the bodies. 
As the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-02-28/kobe-bryant-crash-photos-sheriffs-deputies">Times</a> has previously reported, Villanueva allegedly wanted to keep the public from finding out deputies were circulating the photos in the first place, and promised to not discipline anyone who showed up to the Lost Hill sheriff’s station to delete the photos in person. 
After the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-03/kobe-bryant-crash-photos-sheriffs-department-tried-to-keep-quiet">Times</a> reported on the incident, the sheriff’s office announced an investigation into the photos — over a month after the sheriff’s office received the complaint. But Patti Giggins, the chair of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission, told the news agency that deleting the photos appears to be an example of “a cover-up of misconduct.”
Garry C. Robb, an attorney for Vanessa Bryant, told NBC News in a statement that having deputies take photos of the crash site betrayed the personal steps she took to ensure that no photos would leak to the public.  
&#8220;Mrs. Bryant personally went to the Sheriff&#8217;s office on January 26th and requested that the area be designated a no-fly zone and protected from photographers. This was of critical importance to her as she desired to protect the dignity of all the victims, and their families,&#8221; said Robb, reports the news agency. 
&#8220;First responders should be trustworthy. It is inexcusable and deplorable that some deputies from the Lost Hills Sheriff&#8217;s substation, other surrounding substations and LAFD would allegedly breach their duty,” said Robb.

Kobe Bryant Killed In Helicopter Crash In Calabasas Hills

Report: LA County Sheriff’s Office Embroiled In Coverup Of Kobe Bryant Crash Site Photos

Kobe Bryant

The agency tasked with housing the homeless in Los Angeles recently discovered 3,000 apartment units they claim were unbeknownst to them.
According to <a href="https://la.curbed.com/2020/2/20/21145578/lahsa-units-homeless-housing?fbclid=IwAR2k4BEOSUHGNGQVX3SC6OQ8OYot6TGVkb7TAqs2B5SKmTYfVaLvUz7dK7I">Curbed Los Angeles</a>, a ballot measure passed in 2016 has enabled the construction of over 5,700 apartments to help solve the L.A. homeless crisis. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), the agency tasked with housing people, has been working to ascertain exactly how many empty apartments already exist. Heid Marston, interim director of LAHSA, told city supervisors on Tuesday that the agency &#8220;had recently discovered thousands of units of permanent supportive housing, both in the form of physical homes and rental subsidies, that hadn’t previously been inventoried in its resource management system.&#8221;.
“We have 3,000 units… that we didn’t know about in our system,” Marston told reporters. “They weren’t known to us. We can’t fill units that we don’t know about.&#8221;
Though not all the units discovered were vacant, Marston said that an accurate account of those units will better equip the agency to house the homeless, many of whom require vital services like counseling and healthcare. It takes an average of 10 months for a person in need of such housing to sign a lease. Curbed Los Angeles provided more information on LAHSA&#8217;s alleged incompetency with solving the problem:
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The agency has repeatedly come under fire for a sometimes disorganized response to <a href="https://la.curbed.com/2019/6/4/18651445/homeless-count-data-stats-los-angeles">rising levels of homelessness</a> across LA County. Former director Peter Lynn stepped down in December, less than four months after the release of a <a href="https://la.curbed.com/2019/8/28/20836374/homelessness-audit-report-success-controller">scathing report</a> from Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin criticizing LAHSA’s record-keeping and ability to meet its own housing and outreach goals.
Marston said that the agency began working with affordable developers in December to identify units and housing subsidies that might have been overlooked. In a statement, she said this was part of a “new approach” to “refine” the way that LAHSA gets people into housing.
</blockquote>
Marston admitted to reporters that LAHSA experienced a rocky start after a 2017 ballot measure freed up hundreds of millions of dollars in funding. “It can’t be understated the amount of capacity it took for not only our data systems, but our providers, to build up to a point where we could figure out what a new normal was,” she said.
According to the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-homeless-count-encampment-affordable-housing-2019-results-20190604-story.html?fbclid=IwAR0VSCG33jAi_jUh2s1CxCRd9FXn_gVMBIR6aTttSCmtKtLqrQ8t3oDRHxI">Los Angeles Times</a>, the number of people living on the streets, in vehicles, or in shelters steadily increased in the city throughout 2019, which followed a small decrease in the previous year.
“The annual point-in-time count, delivered to the Board of Supervisors, put the number of homeless people just shy of 59,000 countywide,” reported the outlet. “Within the city of Los Angeles, the number soared to more than 36,000, a 16% increase. And as in past years, most — about 75% — were living outside, fueling speculation of a growing <a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-california-housing-bill-failures-20190604-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">public health crisis</a> of <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rats-homelessness-city-hall-fleas-report-20190603-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rats </a>and <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-lopez-skid-row-rats-trash-20190601-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">trash </a>near homeless encampments downtown.”
Most recently, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said that doctors should be allowed to prescribe housing like they prescribe medication.
“Health care and housing can no longer be divorced. After all, what’s more fundamental to a person’s well-being than a roof over their head?” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrat-gov-gavin-newsom-doctors-should-be-able-to-prescribe-housing-like-medication">Newsom said</a> during his State of the State address. “Doctors should be able to write prescriptions for housing the same way they do for insulin or antibiotics.”
“Why not?” Newsom continued. “That’s the aim of CalAIM, transforming Medi-Cal as we know it, backed by a $695 million budget request to make this real.”

TOPSHOT-US-CALIFORNIA-HOMELESSNESS-SKID ROW

Agency Tasked With Solving L.A. Homeless Crisis Discovers 3,000 Apartments ‘It Didn’t Know About’

Homelessness

On Tuesday, meeting with the Los Angeles Olympic committees to discuss the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, President Trump bluntly warned the city’s leaders that their ineptitude regarding the homeless situation won’t be tolerated, asserting that if Los Angeles doesn’t “clean it up fast,” the Trump administration would.
As <a href="https://apnews.com/85ac88f755a9d6b2bb98b54b3db7b5b6">The Associated Press</a> reported, Trump said, “If they can’t do it themselves, we’re going to do it. The federal government is going to take it over, we’re going to do it.“
As he signed an agreement guaranteeing the federal government would support the first Olympics in the U.S. since the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, Trump said, “This is a big deal. We’re going to give them tremendous support. You need the support of the federal government to make it really work.”
Trump implicitly slammed the Obama administration for its lack of support for the Olympics, saying, “The Olympic committee, really wanted the government; they just wanted some support and they were not getting it at all from the past administration. We’re going to give them tremendous support. You need the support of the federal government to make it really work.”
In December, California governor Gavin Newsom blamed the state’s ferocious homeless problem on President Trump and the Trump administration. As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-governor-gavin-newsom-blames-homelessness-on-president-trump">The Daily Wire</a> reported:
<blockquote>Newsom claimed that Trump is deliberately withholding &#8220;key information&#8221; that California needs in order to properly address the homelessness problem, <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Trump-administration-holding-up-California-14882297.php">according to the San Francisco Chronicle</a>. “California is making historic investments now to help our communities fight homelessness,” Newsom said. “But we have work to do and we need the federal government to do its part.”</blockquote>
The Daily Wire added:
<blockquote>The &#8220;very important material&#8221; California is waiting on from the federal government is nothing more than an official Housing and Urban Development count of precisely how many homeless people live in the state of California. Newsom claims that, without those numbers, he can&#8217;t release more than $500 million earmarked to abate the systemic problem. California conducted those counts months ago, however, and merely sent the results to the government to certify</blockquote>
Shortly after that, Trump fired back, tweeting, “Governor Gavin [Newsom] has done a really bad job on taking care of the homeless population in California. If he can’t fix the problem, the Federal Govt. will get involved!” The next day, he added, &#8220;California and New York must do something about their TREMENDOUS Homeless problems. They are setting records! If their Governors can’t handle the situation, which they should be able to do very easily, they must call and &#8216;politely&#8217; ask for help. Would be so easy with competence!&#8221;
In January, Newsom <a href="https://grabien.com/story.php?id=269269">admitted,</a> “Let’s just be candid; the state of California has been nowhere to be found on the damn issue of homelessness.” Newsom <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ca-gov-newsom-admits-dems-have-been-nowhere-to-be-found-solving-homelessness">seemingly admitted</a> that Democrats, who have controlled the state for years, were responsible for the problem as he continued, “We haven’t been focused on this issue; there’s a reason things are the way they are. It’s because we haven’t addressed them. It’s happened on our watch over the last decade; in particular, it’s really gotten bad over the last decade. And we were just slow to respond.”

President Donald J. Trump&#8217;s Air Force One Arrival In Los Angeles, California

Trump Warns LA On Homeless Crisis: Clean It Up Or ‘We’re Going To Do It’

Donald Trump

Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, a Democrat who is up for re-election on March 3, recently expunged nearly 66,000 marijuana convictions, in part, to <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-02-13/la-district-attorney-clear-marijuana-convictions">correct</a> historical inequities she says have negatively affected black and brown families.
Lacey, a two-term incumbent, announced the move last Thursday along with officials from a non-profit tech company called Code for America. The D.A.’s office partnered with the group last year to create a computer algorithm that would identify convictions eligible for dismissal under Proposition 64 – the 2016 referendum that legalized the recreational use of pot in California.
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When Prop. 64 passed, voters asked CA prosecutors to review/reduce felony convictions for the cultivation, sales, transport &amp; possession for sale of cannabis to misdemeanors. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LADAOffice?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LADAOffice</a> went beyond that call &amp; asked the court to dismiss all eligible cannabis-related convictions. <a href="https://t.co/jm3YSPcTOn">pic.twitter.com/jm3YSPcTOn</a>
&mdash; Jackie Lacey (@LADAOffice) <a href="https://twitter.com/LADAOffice/status/1228020490133889024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Code for America’s “Clear My Record” <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48072164">tool</a> is designed to analyze the text in court documents, helping to alleviate the lengthy bureaucratic process of manually reviewing criminal records to determine which convictions are eligible to be cleared. The technology saves time, resources, and money, with the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-02-13/la-district-attorney-clear-marijuana-convictions">ability</a> to scan the files of thousands of people in a matter of seconds, a company official said. It <a href="http://da.lacounty.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/CODEFORAMERICAPDF.pdf">allows</a> a D.A.’s office to dismiss or resentence convictions proactively and automatically.
“The dismissal of tens of thousands of old cannabis-related convictions in Los Angeles County will bring much-needed relief to communities of color that disproportionately suffered the unjust consequences of our nation’s drug laws,” D.A. Lacey said. “I am privileged to be part of a system dedicated to finding innovative solutions and implementing meaningful criminal justice reform that gives all people the support they need to build the life they deserve.”
Last Tuesday, an L.A. Superior Court judge granted Lacey’s request to clear 62,000 cannabis felony convictions dating back to 1961. Prosecutors also sought the dismissal of approximately 4,000 misdemeanor possession cases in several L.A. County cities, including L.A., Pasadena, Inglewood, and Santa Monica.
<a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-02-13/la-district-attorney-clear-marijuana-convictions">According</a> to the L.A. Times, “that means 22,000 people no longer have felonies on their record in California, and 15,000 no longer have a criminal record at all.”  A total of 53,000 people were deemed eligible to have their pre-legalization pot convictions erased, of which 77% are Latino or black.
Lacey’s detractors, such as the L.A. chapter of Black Lives Matter, questioned the timing of the dismissals, <a href="https://twitter.com/blmla/status/1228409912327200769">speculating</a> she took action now “because she’s about to be voted out of office.”
Former San Francisco D.A. George Gascón, another Democrat who has emerged as Lacey’s most formidable challenger in next month’s election, <a href="https://twitter.com/GeorgeGascon/status/1228061688814899200">noted</a> her decision comes “prior to state law forcing her hand,” referencing a July 1 <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-02-13/la-district-attorney-clear-marijuana-convictions">deadline</a> for California prosecutors to dismiss eligible marijuana-related convictions.
Gascón, who established a reputation as one of the nation’s most progressive prosecutors while serving in S.F., was the first D.A. in the state to partner with Code for America, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48072164">enlisting</a> the group’s services in 2018. He helped <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-san-francisco-marijuana-20180514-story.html">create</a> a program that his campaign spokesman says has been duplicated in L.A. County.
“For years, and in spite of legalization, individuals were denied employment and housing opportunities because of old marijuana convictions,” Gascón <a href="https://twitter.com/GeorgeGascon/status/1228061688814899200">said</a> in a statement. “Lack of access to a job and housing are primary factors that drive recidivism, and that’s why I took this action two years ago; it enhanced community safety and equity. That’s also why it sparked a national movement.”
The S.F. District Attorney’s Office became the first to complete the automated marijuana record clearance process, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/02/26/698045482/san-francisco-to-expunge-thousands-of-marijuana-convictions">announcing</a> last February it had automatically cleared 8,132 felony and misdemeanor convictions. At the time, then-D.A. Gascón <a href="https://www.sfdistrictattorney.org/district-attorney-george-gasc%C3%B3n-and-code-america-complete-first-its-kind-automatic-record-clearance">called on</a> other prosecutors to “address the inherent unfairness of penalizing people for activity that is no longer illegal.”
Lacey <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-la-county-marijuana-convictions-20190401-story.html">announced</a> a partnership with Code for America five weeks later, in April.
Former public defender Rachel Rossi is also in the D.A. race, which L.A. County residents could decide on Super Tuesday when California holds its presidential primary. If none of the candidates receive more than 50% of the vote, the top two finishers will compete in a November runoff.
D.A. Lacey has been endorsed by police unions, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, and U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff.
The L.A. County Democratic Party, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, and U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters are backing Mr. Gascón.
L.A. County is home to the nation’s largest local prosecutors office, along with the world’s biggest jail system.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lapd-union-accused-of-racism-after-releasing-ad-targeting-latino-d-a-candidate">RELATED:LAPD Union Accused of ‘Racism’ After Releasing Ad Targeting Latino D.A. Candidate</a> 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wife-of-netflix-ceo-pumps-1-million-into-l-a-county-d-a-race">RELATED: Wife Of Netflix CEO Pumps $1 Million Into L.A. County D.A. Race</a>
Follow Jeffrey Cawood on Twitter<a href="https://twitter.com/jeffreycawood">@JeffreyCawood</a>.
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19th Annual Slavery To Freedom Gala &#8211; Arrivals

As Election Nears, Los Angeles County D.A. Dismisses 66,000 Pot Convictions

Marijuana

Recent protests in Los Angeles over attempts to end homeless encampments in public areas signal just how deranged many progressives have become over the pressing issue of addiction and homelessness in California and elsewhere. As the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-01-24/homeless-activists-protest-echo-park-lake">Los Angeles Times</a> reported:
<blockquote>Homeless people and scores of activists protested as city crews arrived Friday for a cleanup at Echo Park Lake, publicly calling on Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell to meet with them and work out a deal allowing them to remain at the park. &#8230; If the city ejects the encampment, “it’s like breaking up a family,” said Davon Brown, who said he has lived in the Echo Park encampment for four months. “This is not a cleanup. This is a homeless eviction.”</blockquote>
Never mind how contradictory the notion of a “homeless eviction” actually is, what so many of these entitled activists fail to recognize is how these derelict encampments impact the working poor. It’s the working poor who have to navigate in perilous proximity to the many fatiguing criminal elements that fuel these encampments.
The working poor are the ones who are forced to deal directly with all the refuse and risk from the addiction epidemic. They have to contend with the many strung-out, dangerous individuals on their daily commutes on buses, subways, and sidewalks alongside all the trash, human waste, and hazardous needles that now infest their world.
Addicts literally took over a subway station in San Francisco according to a local <a href="https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/04/25/drug-users-san-francisco-civic-center-bart/">CBS News affiliate</a>. Shannon Gafford, a local commuter, documented the crisis, and the video rivals any depiction from fictional zombie apocalypse:
<blockquote>[O]ver the course of a week, Gafford documented his trip to work. His videos show dozens of people slumped along a hallway, open IV drug use, unconscious men and women, and piles of vomit on either side of the hallways.</blockquote>
Not only is drug use hopelessly prevalent in these encampments, so are drug dealing and all the nefarious consequences associated with it, including violence and prostitution. According to LAPD Captain Brian Morrison, most of these encampments are built around heroin and meth. He stated as much in a recent investigative piece for <a href="https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/news/2019/11/04/police--drug-addiction-plagues-westside-homeless-camps">Spectrum News 1</a> that details just how drug use remains the driving force in these many encampments throughout California.
<blockquote>“That encampment, from our perspective, is predominately built around drug use,” said Captain Brian Morrison, the new head of Los Angeles Police Department’s Pacific Division.</blockquote>
Worse, law enforcement has been hamstrung by insipid policies such as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-addiction-fuels-homelessness-crisis-not-lack-sharif-khan">Prop 47</a>. Drug arrests are no longer tenable as there are no longer substantive consequences for such crimes. Crimes that were once met with arrests and potential jail time now receive, at best, citations and stern warnings. Captain Morrison confirms this in the same interview:
<blockquote>Police have made nearly a dozen arrests for selling drugs, and a half dozen for possession or drug-related warrants. However, Morrison said Proposition 47 basically decriminalized drug use, that weak sentences for possession are not enough to urge addicts into rehab.</blockquote>
It’s high time progressives in California put down their oat milk lattes and deal with the reality of the addiction epidemic. Their meaningless protests and myopic attempts at compassion completely disregard the working poor, never mind common sense. Their self-righteous indignation simply tramples upon those desperately trying to actually better themselves.

Skid Row.

KHAN: The Addiction Epidemic Cripples The Working Poor

Crime

Drugs

Progressivism

Chris Rock and Steve Martin mocked Democrats during the 2020 Academy Awards on Sunday over the disastrous Iowa caucuses and the homeless problem in Los Angeles.
&#8220;A couple of years ago there was a big disaster here at the Oscars where they accidentally read out the wrong name, and it was nobody’s fault, but they have guaranteed that this will not happen this year because the Academy has switched to the new Iowa caucus app,&#8221; Martin said. &#8220;But what a night!&#8221;
&#8220;Yeah, I don’t know Steve,&#8221; Rock responded. &#8220;I’m a little conflicted, you know. I was driving here tonight and seeing the terrible homeless problem in L.A.—&#8221;
Martin immediately cut him off, yelling, &#8220;Thank you, Chris! So many stars! Oh my God, there’s Brad Pitt. It’s like looking at a mirror.&#8221;
The homeless problem in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/los-angeles-homeless-crisis-worsens-16-paul-bois">Los Angeles</a> and in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/homelessness-is-on-the-rise-in-the-u-s-and-one-state-is-driving-it">California</a> as a whole – both controlled by the Democratic Party – has gotten significantly worse in recent years.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/SteveMartinToGo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SteveMartinToGo</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/chrisrock?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@chrisrock</a>, presenting together at the Oscars, mock the Iowa caucuses fiasco, LA homelessness, Jeff Bezos … <a href="https://t.co/guAW5e8CSV">pic.twitter.com/guAW5e8CSV</a>
&mdash; Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) <a href="https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1226676034445205509?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>CHRIS ROCK: While we were backstage watching it, Steve says to me, J Lo’s killing it two weeks in a row.
STEVE MARTIN: You know, I was thinking today Chris that we both have hosted the Oscars before and this is such an incredible demotion. They don’t really have hosts anymore. Why is that?
ROCK: Twitter. Hey, everybody’s got an embarrassing tweet somewhere. I know I do.
MARTIN: A couple of years ago there was a big disaster here at the Oscars where they accidentally read out the wrong name and it was nobody’s fault but they have guaranteed that this will not happen this year because the Academy has switched to the new Iowa caucus app. But what a night!
ROCK: Yeah, I don’t know Steve. I’m a little conflicted, you know. I was driving here tonight and seeing the terrible homeless problem in L.A.—
MARTIN: Thank you, Chris! So many stars! Oh my God, there’s Brad Pitt, it’s like looking at a mirror.
ROCK: … Jeff Bezos is here. Jeff Bezos—
MARTIN: Wow, great actor.
ROCK: He’s got cash, when he writes a check the bank bounce. Jeff Bezos is so rich, he got divorced and he’s still the richest man in the world. He saw Marriage Story and thought it was a comedy. Steve, do you have anything that you want to add about Mr. Bezos?
MARTIN: No, I like getting my packages on time.</blockquote>

Chris Rock Steve Martin

Chris Rock, Steve Martin Mock Democrats Over Iowa Caucuses, L.A. Homeless Problem

2020 Election

Chris Rock

Democrats

Hollywood

Iowa Caucuses

Oscars

Steve Martin

On Wednesday, Daily Wire Editor-at-Large Josh Hammer, a constitutional attorney by training who also frequently opines on issues pertaining to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-border-wall-nice-interior-enforcement-nicer-josh-hammer">immigration enforcement</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-federal-government-has-no-more-important-josh-hammer">border security</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEglbpSPJ2o&amp;feature=youtu.be">joined</a> &#8220;Tipping Point with Liz Wheeler&#8221; on One America News Network to discuss the latest immigration- and crime-related craziness to emerge from the sanctuary jurisdiction that is the state of California.
&#8220;Since California became a sanctuary state in 2017, the number of inmates with immigration detainers being arrested again after being released from jail has jumped, according to a new report from Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes,&#8221; Los Angeles&#8217; local CBS affiliate <a href="https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/02/04/oc-sheriff-sb-54-sanctuary-state-law-repeat-crimes-increase-undocumented-immigrants/">reported</a> earlier this week. &#8220;According to Barnes, more than 1,500 inmates released in 2019 had ICE detainers, a request from the federal agency for notification that a particular inmate has been released. Of those inmates, 238 were re-arrested in Orange County for new crimes, including assault and battery, rape, and robbery.&#8221;
&#8220;The rate of recidivism for those with ICE detainers is up from 2018, when 123 were arrested again for new crimes, out of more than 1,800 such inmates, according to the report,&#8221; the outlet continued.
Hammer has been previously outspoken on the topic of sanctuary cities, opining in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-why-no-one-pointing-out-sanctuary-cities-josh-hammer">Daily Wire op-ed</a> last summer that the majority of sanctuary jurisdictions blatantly violate the text of <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1373">8 U.S.C. § 1373(a)</a>, which reads: &#8220;Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal, State, or local law, a Federal, State, or local government entity or official may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the [Department of Homeland Security] information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual.&#8221;
&#8220;The Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, as applied to § 1373(a), therefore prohibits state and local governments from shielding a removable illegal alien from ICE when ICE issues a detainer request on the alien,&#8221; Hammer wrote.
Joining Wheeler, Hammer decried the <a href="https://cis.org/Camarota/NonCitizens-Committed-Disproportionate-Share-Federal-Crimes-201116">disproportionately high rate of crime</a> for illegal aliens in America before making a similar legal point that he made in the Daily Wire op-ed. He accused sanctuary jurisdictions of adopting similar logic to that of the old Confederacy:
<blockquote>Very few people in the conservative punditry class are making this point, but my reading of federal law is that laws like California&#8217;s are blatantly illegal. If you look at title eight of the United States Code, section 1373, subsection (a), it says very clearly that no federal, state, or local government can &#8220;prohibit&#8221; or &#8220;restrict&#8221; sending any information to the Department of Homeland Security, which of course includes [Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)]. Put another way, when ICE requests detainer information, these states cannot just refuse it. That is literally against the United States Code. And of course, that law is promulgated directly pursuant to the Supremacy Clause of <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlevi">Article VI of the Constitution</a>.
Liz your high school viewers might recall from civics class in high school: This was the entire so-called &#8220;nullification crisis&#8221; of the 1830s, with John C. Calhoun in South Carolina. And it&#8217;s the reason why, in my personal writings on this topic going back months, I always refer to the sanctuary jurisdictions as &#8220;neo-Confederate,&#8221; because it&#8217;s literally what&#8217;s going on here. They are adopting John C. Calhoun-esque, defying-federal law, Confederacy-style public policy and legal argumentation.</blockquote>
WATCH:
<iframe title="Orange County Pushes Back On Sanctuary State Policies" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pEglbpSPJ2o?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Hammer OANN 2.05.19

WATCH: Hammer On ‘Tipping Point With Liz Wheeler’: Sanctuary Cities Are ‘Neo-Confederate’

confederate

Constitution

Department of Homeland Security

Illegal Immigration

Immigration

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Law Enforcement

Police

Hundreds of firefighters and multiple emergency response helicopters converged on a 25-story high-rise in Brentwood, California on Wednesday morning after a massive fire broke out on the sixth floor, sending smoke billowing out as onlookers watched in alarm from the streets. Early reports indicate that eight people were treated as a result of the fire, including two adults who reportedly suffered critical injuries.
According to officials from the Los Angeles Fire Department, the fire broke out at just after 8:30 a.m. at the Barrington Plaza residential building, located at 11740 Wilshire Blvd., and was finally extinguished just before 10 a.m. By the time the fire was put down, eight people were injured and a section of the sixth story utterly destroyed, but as reports from the scene have made clear, the impact of the fire could have been far worse had the response not been so swift and thorough.
&#8220;Two adults were critically injured after a massive fire tore through part of a high-rise in the Brentwood area Wednesday morning, the same building which was the site of a fire more than six years ago,&#8221; <a href="https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/01/29/fire-engulfs-high-rise-building-in-brentwood/">CBS Los Angeles</a> reports. Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey told CBS that the fire began on the sixth floor.
Video posted on social media taken by an onlooker from across the street shows the dramatic scene:
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Fire on Wilshire &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Barrington?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Barrington</a> outside my office in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Brentwood?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Brentwood</a> <a href="https://t.co/T5fA4WaAdZ">pic.twitter.com/T5fA4WaAdZ</a>
&mdash; jack kensington (@jackkensington) <a href="https://twitter.com/jackkensington/status/1222564406757748738?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Along with 335 firefighters, four emergency response helicopters were sent to the scene, where they rescued over a dozen residents who fled to the roof.
&#8220;These emergency workers are heroes,&#8221; wrote Rosy Cordero, who posted video of the rooftop rescue on Twitter. &#8220;Wow, this is a building on fire in Brentwood with people trapped in the residential building.&#8221;
In the end, a reported fifteen people were rescued by the helicopters, which transported them to the helipad at West L.A. Veterans Affairs Medical Center, according to officials.
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These emergency workers are heroes. Wow, this is a building on fire in Brentwood with people trapped in the residential building. It’s on Wilshire and Stone near Barrington. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/emergency?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#emergency</a> <a href="https://t.co/2Gule1wdNT">pic.twitter.com/2Gule1wdNT</a>
&mdash; Rosy Cordero (@SocialRosy) <a href="https://twitter.com/SocialRosy/status/1222567817850933248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;There were initially unconfirmed reports that people may have been forced to jump out of the building,&#8221; CBS reports. &#8220;Aerial footage showed at least one person standing outside a window. However, in a morning briefing, LAFD Deputy Chief Armando Hogan told reporters that there were no jumpers.&#8221;
Hogan explained in the press conference that firefighters managed to convince the person seen &#8220;hanging off the ledge that was contemplating jumping&#8221; to wait for responders. The firefighters were able to get there quickly enough to bring the individual down safely.
Humphrey told the press that the department placed inflatable air cushions on the ground just in case some were tempted to jump, but did not end up needing to use them.
Officials told CBS that a total of eight people were treated, mostly for smoke inhalation, including a thee-month old child. Two of the adult victims are being treated for &#8220;critical injuries.&#8221;
While the sixth floor appears to have borne the brunt of the fire, Hogan said that floors 5 through 8 were also impacted, CBS reports, noting that the building, constructed in 1961, does not have a sprinkler system and is not required to because of its age.
This report has been updated to include more details about the incident and revised for clarity.

US-CALIFORNIA-FIRE

WATCH: Helicopters Rescue Residents From Massive Fire In L.A. High-Rise

Basketball legend Kobe Bryant, who perished this weekend in a helicopter accident, and his wife Vanessa had a pact to never fly on a helicopter together.
“He and Vanessa had a deal that they would never fly on a helicopter together,” a source told <a href="https://people.com/sports/kobe-bryant-wife-vanessa-had-deal-never-fly-helicopter-together/">PEOPLE</a> magazine on Monday.
According to the source, &#8220;Bryant &#8216;only&#8217; flew in helicopters with pilot Ara Zobayan, who was among those killed in the crash,&#8221; the outlet reported.
“One of the biggest things he was looking forward to after retiring from the NBA [in 2016] was getting to spend more time with his family,” the source noted. “<a href="https://people.com/sports/kobe-bryant-very-hands-on-dad-so-proud-of-daughters-source/">He was a very hands-on dad</a> and, like any other father, saw such bright futures for all of his daughters.”
“He was so proud to see them take after not only him and Vanessa, but also grow into their own. He had a special bond with each of his daughters.”
On Sunday, Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others, including two of Gianna’s teammates, were tragically killed in a helicopter accident in California.
As noted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/in-past-interview-kobe-said-he-relied-on-helicopter-use-to-spend-more-time-with-his-children">The Daily Wire</a> on Monday, the former Laker explained in 2018 that he frequently traveled via helicopter so he could avoid notorious Los Angeles traffic, thus saving time so he could spend more moments with his children.
“Traffic started getting really, really bad and I was sitting in traffic and I wound up missing like a school play, because I was sitting in traffic,” he said during a Barstool Sports podcast.
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“I had to figure out a way where I could still train and focus on the craft but still not compromise family time,” Bryant continued. “So that’s when I looked into helicopters, to be able to get down and back in 15 minutes and that’s when it started.”
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“You have like road trips and times where you don’t see your kids. So every chance I get to see them, to spend time with them — even if it’s 20 minutes in the car — I want that,” he added.
Bryant was a hands-on father, coaching his daughter Gianna&#8217;s basketball team. He was frequently spotted with his four daughters.
While paying tribute to Bryant on Monday, SportsCenter’s Elle Duncan became overcome with emotion describing the only time she met Bryant.
“I saw him and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s Kobe,” recalled Duncan, according to <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1116778/this-tribute-to-girl-dad-kobe-bryant-proves-he-died-doing-what-he-loved-the-most">E! News</a>. “I’ve gotta get a picture for the ‘gram’ (Instagram). I didn’t get it for a few minutes because, as I approached him, he immediately commented on my rather large, eight month pregnant belly.”
“I asked him for advice on raising girls, seeing as though he quite famously had three at the time and he said, ‘Just be grateful that you’ve been given that gift because girls are amazing,&#8217;” she said.
“He said that his wife Vanessa really wanted to try again for a boy but was sort of jokingly concerned that it would be another girl,” Duncan explained. “I was like, ‘Four girls, are you joking? Like, what would you think? How would you feel?’ And without hesitation he said, ‘I would have five more girls if I could.”
“I’m a girl dad,” Bryant proudly told the journalist.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kobe-a-devout-catholic-reportedly-attended-mass-morning-of-accident">Kobe, A Devout Catholic, Reportedly Attended Mass Morning Of Accident</a>
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