SAN FRANCISCO — The uber-liberal San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin is not what voters in the city expected. Residents are “fed up” with his progressive policies, as his push to reduce jail funding and refusal to prosecute repeat offenders ensures the streets remain polluted with blatant drug dealing and violent crime now stretches into the suburbs, a leader of the San Francisco Police Officers Association (SFPOA) told Fox News.
Although the first Republican-backed recall effort fell just 1,714 signatures short of the 51,325 required to trigger a special election, they are not dismayed.
Now a second recall effort is being organized, which Boudin discarded Monday night as proof that his progressive policies to reduce incarceration has “angered the billionaire class.”
However, it’s his practice to decarcerate that has led to tragedies in the city. Earlier this week a grieving mother publicly expressed sorrow after her daughter was one of two people mowed down and killed by a career criminal fleeing ongoing criminal activity while driving a stolen vehicle. The felon had previously been in custody several times, but the DA’s office failed to file charges against the man, which facilitated the double fatality, Law Officer reported.
SFPOA President Tony Montoya told Fox News that Boudin’s “swiftest revolving door in criminal justice” sends the message to offenders that there are no consequences for their actions.
“Police are the bad guys, and the bad guys are the good guys in the mind of a progressive,” Montoya said. “Chesa’s good at the blame game. We’re going to call him Mr. Deflector because he’s always pointing the finger left or right and never at the man in the mirror.”
“The perception out there is that are zero consequences for illegal or bad behavior. They know if they get caught, they’ll be out sooner than it takes the officer to write their police report,” Montoya continued. “Rather than the politicians becoming numb to it, I think they’re in denial. They are flat out in denial that it’s occurring. It’s not secret we have an open air drug market.”
The blatant lawlessness has left citizens in the liberal city “starting to wake up to the reality that’s now become their nightmare as far as public safety and crime goes.”
“We lost more people to fentanyl overdoses last year than we did to COVID.”
— San Francisco Police Officer Association President Tony Montoya
According to Montoya, SFPOA was not involved in organizing the first unsuccessful recall effort as Boudin continues to argue against incarceration.
“As San Francisco’s district attorney, I’ve worked tirelessly since day one to follow through on the campaign promises that I made to all of you and to the people of San Francisco that got me elected,” Boudin said. “It’s following up on those kinds of promises we made, holding corporations accountable, holding police accountable, reducing our reliance on incarceration and instead prioritizing diversion, mental health treatment and keeping families together that I’ve been able to follow through on my commitments to those that elected me.”
“But it’s also angered the ruling class, it’s also angered the billionaire class,” he continued. “And that’s why in San Francisco they organized not one, but two separate recall campaigns to try to get me kicked out of office before I’m even halfway through with my term.”
Although SFPD will still make arrests of suspected drug dealers, Montoya says Boudin disregards the cases brought to his office.
“Chesa Boudin believes that those who are selling drugs may be the victims of society’s failures,” the association president said. “He’s not going to prosecute these people.”
“The ones selling these drugs are feeding the demons of these addicts. They are literally responsible for people dying on our streets. We lost more people to fentanyl overdoses last year than we did to COVID,” Montoya told Fox News on Tuesday. “He’s not prosecuting people. We’re seeing the same people again and again and again. It’s taking recidivism to a whole new level. He likes to tout that there’s almost zero recidivism when he releases people from the jails. Not true, Mr. Boudin.”
“They’ve woken a sleeping giant with the citizens. … Many have buyer’s remorse.”
— San Francisco Police Officer Association President Tony Montoya
Even more shocking, Montoya said SFPD detectives bring cases to the DA’s office where violent crimes are captured on video, the suspect is caught with a weapon on their person, and ballistics are matching, but Boudin still refuses to file charges without further DNA evidence.
“So I’m calling nonsense on his list that ending jails makes us all safer. I’m just one person, I’m the union president. But they’ve woken a sleeping giant with the citizens. And they are now speaking loud and clear. I think many have buyer’s remorse when it comes to the last district attorney’s elections.”
Boudin continues to deflect responsibility and sensationalize circumstances with with his arguments, like “children don’t belong in cages.” He mentioned during a call with Fox that his parents were both serving prison sentences by the time he was 14 months old.
However, he failed to mention that his parents were both members of the far-left militant group Weather Underground, and his father remains incarcerated in the infamous Oct. 20, 1981, Brink’s robbery after felony murder convictions of two police officers and a security guard. His mother was released in 2003.
