L.A. Sheriff Asks DOJ to Take Over Prosecution of Cop Killer, Cites DA's Leniency

AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva says the reason he asked the Department of Justice to try the case, which involves four gangbangers who murdered off-duty officer Fernando Arroyos, was because the response from the local district attorney’s office was “not satisfactory” and “really did not cover the depravity of this crime.”

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The local DA in this case is Soros-backed “reform” prosecutor George Gascon. Villanueva says that, when Gascon indicated he was going to try the case as a simple murder case, he felt it was in the best interests of his officers to seek justice elsewhere.

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“I believe their plan was to just prosecute a simple murder with no gun enhancements, no gang enhancements, nothing,” Villanueva told the Los Angeles Times when asked if he had consulted with Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon’s office. “And that really did not cover the depravity of this crime…. It should be noted that the California penal code does cover all these things. The tools are there but we need to have someone who’s willing to use them.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California ultimately charged the four suspects with violent crime in aid of racketeering, which it says “carries a potential death penalty – and minimum sentence of life in federal prison without the possibility of parole – because Officer Arroyos allegedly was murdered during the robbery.”

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As part of his “criminal justice reform” agenda, Gascon no longer pursues “special enhancements” in gang cases. This means that the most violent, psychotic killers in Los Angeles County will serve less jail time, because Gascon believes the gangbangers are victims of racism and a racist system.

The DA’s office claims they never had a chance to review the case.

When asked to respond to Villanueva’s comments, Alex Bastian, Special Advisor to District Attorney George Gascon, told Fox News Digital that “we support the federal authorities taking the case and will be in communication with all the parties involved.”

“It was indicated to us that the case was referred to the federal authorities, who filed charges,” he added. “As such, we did not have an opportunity to review the case.”

L.A. Police Chief Michel Moore reportedly said Thursday following the arrests that he was “grateful for the federal involvement in this case.

“It is appropriate. I am thankful for the U.S. attorney stepping in and bringing the full weight of the government against this gang, against these individuals,” the Los Angeles Times quoted him as saying.

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Would it have mattered if they had been able to study the particulars of the murder? Villanueva says that Gascon has declined to prosecute 12,000 cases brought to him by Los Angeles city and county police.

“So that is disheartening for any cop to think all their work is being undone by a careless and irresponsible district attorney. But they’re not going to stop doing their job,” Villanueva said.

“Careless and irresponsible” could describe other Soros-backed DA’s in Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and St. Louis as well, where experimental “criminal justice reform” has led to violence and chaos in the city streets.

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