In her first in-depth interview since Black Lives Matter stepped up its campaign to oust her, L.A.’s DA Jackie Lacey tells CNN she has more in common with protesters than they realize, and that in many of the cases, she’s handcuffed by the law.
In her first in-depth interview since Black Lives Matter stepped up its campaign to oust her, Lacey tells CNN she has more in common with protesters than they realize, and that in many of these cases, she’s handcuffed by the law. “While you may look at a shooting by an officer and say, ‘Oh, they could have shot him in the leg, they didn’t have to respond that way,’ that’s not the test under California law,” Lacey said. “The test is when somebody’s life is in danger.”At a press conference later that day, Lacey apologized on behalf of her family. She told CNN that coming to her home “crossed the line.” · “Creating a situation where someone thinks that they’re about to be harmed, I don’t think that helps your cause at all,” Lacey said. But Abdullah disagrees, saying “people have been going to elected officials’ houses for decades,” and that it is all in the quest for social change. Melina Abdullah, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, seen in a white shirt, leads a protest in front of Lacey's office on July 1.There was a woman who supplied him with drugs, he overdosed, and people wanted the DA to charge her with a crime,” Lacey said. “Ed Buck is similar in the sense of here were men who used drugs that Ed Buck supplied, but we don’t know whether he injected them or they injected themselves.” · That attention to legal detail offers insight into Lacey’s methodical approach to her position. It also explains why Lacey and protesters are fractured over another topic: police shootings. Lacey and Black Lives Matter are so far off on the topic of police shootings in Los Angeles County that they can’t even agree on how many there have been.Lacey said that’s because the law leaves her with little wiggle room when a citizen is armed and it can be argued the officer was in danger at the time they pulled the trigger. Lacey at a news conference on June 29, 2015. ... But Black Lives Matter points to Lacey’s support from police unions as a reason to be suspicious, since unions are largely seen as an obstacle to effective police reform.
