Soros-backed DA George Gascón Seeks Reduced Punishment for Accused Cop-killer in LA

Deputy Joseph Solano (LASD / Twitter)
LASD / Twitter
Joel B. Pollak

Newly-installed Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón is seeking reduced penalties for a man accused of committing two murders in June 2019, including Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputy Joseph Solano.

Gascón was heavily funded by left-wing billionaire George Soros, and backed by the Democratic Party establishment in California — including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who withdrew his endorsement of then-District Attorney Jackie Lacey, the first black woman to hold the post, in favor of Gascón.

Gascón was sworn in earlier this month, and immediately vowed to stop the use of cash bail, to bar prosecutors from seeking the death penalty, and to end sentencing “enhancements,” such as additional penalties for using a gun in committing a crime, or belonging to a criminal gang.

As Bill Melugin of local Fox affiliate KTTV-11 reported Monday, Gascón’s changes include making accused cop-killer Rhett Nelson eligible for parole one day.

Melugin reported:

In June 2019, police say Rhett Nelson shot LASD deputy Joseph Gilbert Solanoin the back of the head while he was waiting in line at an Alhambra Jack in the Box while off-duty.

Police say just one hour before that, Nelson shot and killed 31-year-old Russian skateboarder Dmitry Koltsov. Deputy Solano died in the hospital.

…

FOX 11 has now confirmed that Gascon’s office is seeking to dismiss all gun enhancements and special circumstances of multiple murders against Nelson. If a judge signs off on the dismissals, life without parole would be off the table for Nelson if he were to be convicted, and he could potentially be released from prison at some point in the future.

Solano’s murder was deeply mourned by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and by the public:

Gascón’s office confirmed to Melugin that it is seeking to remove the sentencing enhancements, and justified it by arguing that it was not in the public interest to keep an inmate in prison for life at high cost if he had been rehabilitated:

Solano’s sister told Melugin that Gascón had never contacted her, and that he was “disgusting.”

Soros has contributed to the election of left-wing prosecutors all over the country in recent years.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His newest e-book is Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

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