Two California progressives have been recalled after crime-ridden city residents had enough.
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao were successfully recalled by voters during Tuesday's election.
Nearly 65 percent of voters wished to oust Thao from her role as mayor. An equal number wanted to get Price out of office as well.
Thao was the first mayor to be recalled in Oakland for more than 100 years.
Price is the first DA to be recalled in county history.
The former mayor's critics largely blamed her for Oakland's high crime rate and for missing out on millions from a retail theft grant from the city after she missed the deadline. They also disagreed with her firing a popular police chief.
'We stood with Oakland residents for the recall of Mayor Sheng Thao for her defunding of police and for her gross fiscal mismanagement that has led Oakland into near bankruptcy,' President of the Oakland Police Officers Association Sgty. Huy Nguyen said in a statement.
As for DA Price, when she was elected in 2022, she ran on a progressive platform, vowing not to overcharge criminals, especially black and brown youths.
Critics said she wasn't giving harsh enough sentences, which created an unsafe community.
You may have wondered why Pamela Price is so hated. Look no further than the Jasper Wu case: https://web.archive.org/web/20240617042203/https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2023/06/08/courts/jasper-wu-murder-suspects-face-less-time-pamela-price/
TL;DR - a near-2 year old child was shot and killed by a stray bullet while sitting in the child seat of a car in the freeway. After a long while, police nabbed the suspects, but Price refused to charge them life in prison and instead gave them parole after 25 years.
She also kept declining or reducing charges against suspects who are obviously a certain demographic. Often, they already have a rap sheet of felony charges.
Thanks for the info.