LA County prosecutor who described police as ‘barbarians’ picked as interim victims bureau chief

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has named a erstwhile nationalist defender who erstwhile described constabulary arsenic “barbarians” arsenic the interim manager of the Bureau of Victim Services, drafting disapproval from a instrumentality enforcement national and a erstwhile apical prosecutor.

Tiffiny Blacknell, hired successful January arsenic a peculiar advisor to Gascón, began her caller duties Tuesday and volition service portion a nationwide hunt is conducted to prime a imperishable director.

“This caller manager volition bring trauma-informed attraction to transgression victims passim Los Angeles County arsenic they embark connected the travel to becoming survivors,” Gascón said successful a statement. “My extremity is to supply transgression victims with objective services that volition assistance them done the healing process.”

The manager volition beryllium liable for starring and increasing the Bureau of Victim Services, which has astir 100 employees who enactment successful courthouses and constabulary stations passim Los Angeles County.

Blacknell replaces erstwhile bureau Director Michele Daniels, who has been transferred to the Airport Branch Office to service arsenic caput lawman territory attorney.

Alex Bastian, besides a peculiar advisor to Gascón, said Thursday that Blacknell is an fantabulous prime to pb the bureau during the hunt for a imperishable director.

“District Attorney George Gascón has the utmost religion and assurance successful Ms. Blacknell, arsenic evidenced by her enactment roles wrong the office,” helium said successful an email. “Ms. Blacknell has worked intimately with transgression victims, some personally and professionally, and has provided indispensable enactment to the office’s archetypal Crime Victims Advisory Board. She has worked tirelessly with — and for the payment of — the assemblage and transgression victims and is an invaluable subordinate of the District Attorney’s enforcement team.”

Unfit to correspond victims

However, Craig Lally, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, maintains Blacknell’s anti-law enforcement rhetoric makes her unfit to correspond transgression victims.

“The assignment of a vocation transgression defence attorney, who supports abolishing prisons and defunding the police, arsenic the apical transgression unfortunate advocator is absurd,” Lally said successful a statement. “Does George Gascón honestly deliberation that transgression victims volition spot idiosyncratic who has fought for little accountability for criminals and who publically expresses hatred toward constabulary officers? It’s wide Gascón doesn’t attraction astir victims.”

Former Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, who is starring a callback effort to region Gascón from office, agrees.

“The punctuation astir ‘the fox guarding the hen house’ comes to mind,” helium said successful an email. “(It’s) conscionable different illustration of Gascón abandoning victims arsenic helium has already done successful the courtroom and astatine parole hearings.”

Anti-law enforcement rhetoric

What seems to choler critics the astir are Blacknell’s social media posts expressing disdain for instrumentality enforcement.

After the sidesplitting of George Floyd by a Minneapolis constabulary serviceman successful 2020, she took to Twitter to telephone the LAPD “barbarians” and an “occupying army.”

In an Instagram post, Blacknell is pictured wearing a T-shirt that reads, “The constabulary are trained to termination us,” portion successful a Facebook station she describes however she participated successful looting during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

Tiffiny Blacknell, who has been hired by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, is receiving disapproval from unions representing prosecutors and instrumentality enforcement for this Instagram photo.

“I was 15,” she wrote successful the post. “I was furious, bittersweet and scared. I had nary mode to process my emotions astir the execution of Latasha Harlins oregon the beating of Rodney King. So we went retired and watched our metropolis burn. And erstwhile the accidental arose, we took immoderate sh–. It was 1 of the astir formative moments of my life.”

In different post, Blacknell advocates “flipping the bench” by voting retired judges who bash not hold with Gascón’s policies.

“Before George, these aforesaid judges were doing immoderate the DA asked them to do,” she said successful the post. “So the information comes out. It’s conscionable the wide quality caging they judge in. It’s not astir bowing to the volition of the DA, it’s astir perpetrating the racist system. Now that we cognize who’s who, it’s clip to instrumentality enactment The radical person been voting for measurement aft measurement to trim the jailhouse situation population, they person voted for a progressive authoritative who has promised to trim wide quality caging. The lone happening lasting successful the mode of the volition of the radical is the bench.”

Compassion for transgression victims

Kathleen Cady, a erstwhile authoritative who served arsenic peculiar adjunct wrong the Bureau of Victim Services for 9 years, declined to sermon Blacknell’s societal media posts oregon her suitability to pb the bureau.

However, she said it’s indispensable that the bureau’s manager person beardown enactment skills and unfailing compassion for transgression victims.

“The idiosyncratic who is successful complaint of helping transgression victims successful Los Angeles County needs to beryllium dedicated to their healing and well-being and honoring their rights arsenic they spell done the transgression justness system,” Cady said.