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Hochman Urges Firing of Blacknell as Chief of Staff
By a MetNews Staff Writer
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TIFFINY BLACKNELL D.A.’s Office chief of staff |
Assistant U.S. Attorney General Nathan Hochman, a candidate for Los Angeles County district attorney, yesterday lambasted incumbent George Gascón for promoting Deputy District Attorney Tiffiny Blacknell, a former deputy public defender to the post of chief of staff, and called for her firing.
Yesterday was her first day on the job.
“Ms. Blacknell’s first day on the job as chief of staff should be her last,” he said at a press conference outside the Hall of Justice.
“I am standing here today in front of George Gascon’s office, demanding that Gascon immediately terminate his chief of staff, Tiffiny Blacknell, as she is the most unqualified, pro-criminal chief of staff in L.A. County history,” he asserted,
Hochman added that Gascón “has chosen someone outside the District Attorney’s Office who for her entire career has put the interests of criminals first and the public and victims second.”
The former federal prosecutor noted that Blacknell, like Gascón, has never handled a prosecution. He pointed to her comment on social media after participating in the Rodney King riots:
“We went out and watched our city burn. And when the opportunity arose, we took some sh--. It was one of the most formative moments of my life.”
The candidate pointed out that Blacknell has called for shutting down prisons and defunding the police, and has characterized the police as “barbarians” who comprise an “occupying army” and who “are trained to kill us all.”
Hochman remarked:
“This appointment is Exhibit A on why Gascon must go. It sends the wrong message to the 900-plus prosecutors in Gascon’s office that their Chief of Staff is someone who views the police as the enemy rather than a partner in fighting crime.
“Appointments like this are the reason why we are all less safe than we were before Gascon took office.”
When Gascón became district attorney in 2000, he borrowed Blacknell from the Public Defender’s Office, there was then a lateral transfer of her (and other deputy public defenders) to the District Attorney’s Office without her taking an exam—a move the Association of Deputy District Attorneys unsuccessfully sought to block in a court action.
Blacknell was assigned to recruitment efforts.
Copyright 2024, Metropolitan News Company