Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey has officially apologized for a confrontation at her home Monday between Black Lives Matter protesters and her husband, who briefly held the peaceful crowd at gunpoint while saying, “I will shoot you.”
The incident happened Monday morning on the eve of Lacey's reelection primary vote, and video of the disturbing episode went viral on social media.
In an emotional news conference later in the day, Lacey said she and her husband, David, were awakened and frightened by the demonstration before 6 a.m. She said he ran downstairs, where she heard him talking to someone, and that when he returned he said there were protesters.
She said he told her: “I pulled my gun, and I asked them to leave.”
An LAPD spokesperson confirmed Monday that detectives were investigating a “possible assault with a deadly weapon,” according to The Associated Press.
No arrests have been reported as of 4:45 p.m. Tuesday.
The whole thing started when about 30 protesters gathered Monday outside the couple’s home in Granada Hills, Los Angeles, demanding a community meeting, according to news reports.
The incident happened just as Lacey is fighting for her third term in office as district attorney. She’s facing two other candidates in a race in which police shootings have become a critical focus.
News reports said Black Lives Matter protesters were in Lacey's driveway before dawn with banners, signs, bullhorns and chairs — and calling for Lacey to come outside for a face-to-face meeting.
AP reported that Jackie Lacey has clashed repeatedly with the same group of protesters, who accuse her of protecting officers in fatal shootings and running away from any explanation.
More than 500 fatal police shootings have been reported under Lacey’s watch since she was first elected in 2012. Reports say she has declined to bring charges in most if not all of the cases.
On the morning of the latest confrontation, the Los Angeles Times said the group was at Lacey's home to protest her refusal to meet with black activists and pressure her to declare an official stance on the issue before Tuesday’s vote.
At least one of the protesters took video as a man emerged with a gun from inside the front door of Lacey's residence.
In the video, a person can be heard speaking calmly to the man.
NewsOne.com identified the person speaking off camera as Dr. Melina Abdullah, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter LA and California State University professor who has been known to protest outside Lacey’s office for years, according to reports.
Abdullah later confirmed her involvement on Twitter.
On the video, Abdullah asks the man in a low tone, “Are you going to shoot me?”
“I will shoot you,” he retorts, with his weapon raised.
“Get off of my porch!”
“Can you tell Jackie Lacey that we’re here?” Abdullah asked, explaining who they were.
“I don’t care who you are, get off of my porch right now,” the man then said.
“Right now,” he demanded. “We’re calling the police right now.”
The man then goes back inside and closes the door.
The confrontation lasted a little more than a minute.
The voices speaking to Lacey sound low and peaceful.
Jackie Lacey defended her husband but also said that she and her husband were sorry.
“His response was in fear, and now that he realizes what happened, he wanted me to say to the protesters, the person that he showed the gun to, that he was sorry, that he was profoundly sorry,” Lacey said, according to the AP.
Abdullah dismissed Lacey’s apology, saying she and her group felt “traumatized” after David Lacey pointed his gun “inches” from her chest, according to the AP.
“She didn’t apologize to us,” Abdullah said. “And an apology isn’t enough. We need her to change. We need her to be accountable or she can retire.”
AP reports that David Lacey was once an investigative auditor with the DA’s office until his retirement in 2016.
Robert Weisberg, co-director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center, said David Lacey could potentially face felony or misdemeanor charges, such as assault with a deadly weapon, brandishing of a firearm or making criminal threats.
But Lacey could claim he acted in self-defense, Weisberg said, and point to his wife’s history of being the subject of protests to make the justification more plausible.
“Would a reasonable person in his situation believe that exhibiting a gun is justified?” Weisberg said.
Lacey’s office said the case could be brought to an independent prosecutor’s office, and the state attorney general’s office is assisting the LAPD, the AP reported.
Lacey said the protesters have rejected all of her terms for a meeting in a small gathering, and she accuses Black Lives Matter of intimidation tactics.
“I do not believe it is fair or right for protesters to show up at the homes of people who dedicate their lives to public service,” Lacey said, according to the AP. “It seems like what they like is to embarrass me and intimidate me,” Lacey said.
About the Author
