Earlier this week, comedian Dave Chappelle was attacked onstage during his comedy performance at the Hollywood Bowl. Now, many are outraged that rogue prosecutor George Gascón has declined to file felony charges against the attacker:
The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office’s decision not to bring felony charges against Dave Chappelle’s alleged onstage attacker has already sent shockwaves through the world of entertainment, and live venue owners across the country are coming down hard on what they say is DA George Gascón’s lack of justice.
"This is shocking to hear," New York comedy club owner Dani Zoldan told Fox News Digital Thursday. "The individual that attacked Dave Chappelle did so with a knife. It was planned in advance. I'm curious what they would consider felony conduct. People should be held accountable for their actions. Not charging this person appropriately sends a message that it's OK to physically harm someone. It's really outrageous.
In the absence of charges from the D.A.'s office, the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office has filed four misdemeanor charges against the attacker.
A man accused of attacking Dave Chappelle during a stand-up comedy show earlier this week will face four misdemeanor counts, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer announced Thursday, hours after the local district attorney declined to press felony charges. pic.twitter.com/11gYvuV9R0
— Forbes (@Forbes) May 6, 2022
It should come as no surprise that Gascón has declined to go after Chappelle's attacker. Gascón has been criticized for his soft-on-crime policies since taking office in 2020.
As The Heritage Foundation's Cully Stimson noted during a symposium on rogue prosecutors, prosecutors are the "gatekeeper to the criminal justice system." Sadly, this principle has led to higher crime rates in Los Angeles since Gascón became D.A.:
Since Gascon took office in 2020, Los Angeles has seen a 34% increase in homicide, 15.5% increase in violent crimes, 6.7% increase in property crimes and 67% increase in shooting victims. Arrests have decreased by nearly 25% since 2020, according to LAPD statistics.
Opposition to Gascón's policies run so deep that even those within his own office regularly speak out against him:
Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami told Fox News Digital, "Anyone who arms themselves with a deadly weapon — in [the Chappelle] case, a knife — and violently attacks an innocent person, famous or not, should be charged accordingly."
"With only a misdemeanor charge, the person could be released soon with only a slap on the wrist. That fails to provide justice to the victim, accountability for this person's actions, and safety to the general public. These concepts, however, like public safety and justice, that most of us value, are concepts George Gascón can care less about."
Because it involves a celebrity, the Chappelle case is getting a lot of attention from the media. Unfortunately, there are countless cases that Gascón and other rogue prosecutors have declined to file charges in that will not receive the same attention.
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