LOS ANGELES — California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) filed criminal charges against the husband of the Los Angeles County district attorney after he was recorded pulling a firearm on BLM protesters back in March, during an incident where he demanded they “get off of my porch.”
David Lacey, the husband of District Attorney Jackie Lacey, was charged with three misdemeanor counts of assault with a firearm against three people, according to court filings obtained by Politico.
One of the three people, Melina Abdullah, a professor of Pan-African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles, posted a video of the interaction shortly after it occurred.
The video shows David Lacey pointing a handgun during an exchange that reportedly happened around 5:40 a.m. and, mysteriously enough, only a day before the district attorney’s primary election.
Although Jackie Lacey faced fierce opposition, particularly from BLM, she easily beat her challenger, reported Los Angeles Magazine.
Abdullah claimed in a tweet that she was trying to invite the district attorney to a “community meeting” outside her house.
The exchange went like this:
MAN: Right now, get off!
WOMAN: Good morning.
MAN: Get off of my porch.
WOMAN: Are you going to shoot me?
MAN: I will shoot you, get off of my porch.
WOMAN: Can you tell Jackie Lacey that we’re here.
MAN: I don’t care who you are, get off of my porch, right now.
WOMAN: [unintelligible]
MAN: We’re calling the police right now.
WOMAN: Good.
I’m front of DA Jackie Lacey’s house for that community meeting she promised with the @BLMLA crew. Rang her bell to invite her.
Her husband pulled a gun, cocked it, pointed it at my chest and said “I’ll shoot you. I don’t care who you are.” @WP4BL @RealJusticePAC @shaunking pic.twitter.com/WtazUWSJIC
— Melina Abdullah (@DocMellyMel) March 2, 2020
A tearful Jackie Lacey said during a press conference hours after the incident that the gathering of protesters at her home awakened her and her husband, David, and he reacted out of fear but was “profoundly sorry” for brandishing a gun. She said he ran downstairs, where she heard him talking to someone, and that when he came back, he said there were demonstrators outside, KABC reported.
“My husband acted in fear for my safety after we were subjected to months of harassment that included a death threat no less than a week earlier. Protesters arrived at my house shortly after 5 a.m. while I was upstairs. My husband felt that we were in danger and acted out of genuine concern for our well being,” said Lacey.
Attorney Samuel Tyre issued the following statement on behalf of David Lacey: “My client and I are disappointed that the Attorney General’s Office felt that the conduct at issue amounted to criminal behavior. We disagree entirely with their assessment, but we have the utmost faith in the justice system, and we are confident that the correct result will be reached.”
“At this time we are not going to comment on the facts of the case, except to say that my client’s human instinct is forever and always to protect his wife and his family and to keep them safe from physical harm. We look forward to all relevant facts coming to light,” the statement concluded.
Addressing the incident back in early March, Lacey said during a press conference that she has tried to meet with Black Lives Matter activists in the past, but the attempts have not been fruitful, Daily Wire reported.
“It seems like what they like is to embarrass me and intimidate me,” said Lacey. “My hope is that one day that might change. That maybe, just maybe, if I keep reaching out, that someone will want to sit down and have a conversation that’s productive.”
- MISSOURI ATTORNEY GENERAL, GOVERNOR CRITICAL OF KIM GARDNER’S ‘POLITICAL PROSECUTION’ OF MCCLOSKEY’S
The case has similarities to the one in St. Louis County involving Mark and Patricia McCloskey who pulled firearms on a mob of protesters threatening harm to them and their property. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner—a George Soros funded politician—charged the couple last month, Law Officer reported.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said that he would seek to have the charges against the McCloskey’s dismissed, calling it “a political prosecution.”
The same could be said about the California attorney general charging David Lacey.
