Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman visited East Los Angeles on Thursday for a Latino Community Town Hall, where he pledged to protect businesses from crime and assured that federal officials do not consult with the D.A.’s office on immigration raid locations.
A pledge to protect all victims — documented or not
Hochman told a crowd of about 60 attendees inside East Los Tacos that law enforcement officers in L.A. do not ask for immigration status. “We support victims, documented, undocumented. It doesn’t matter to us. If you are victimized in this county, we will go after the victimizer, the person who created the harm,” he said.
The town hall comes as immigration raids continue to sweep the L.A. region and amid community tensions after LAPD officers shot and killed 26-year-old Jeremy Flores in Boyle Heights earlier this summer.
Hochman addressed the recent protests against the ICE raids, saying his office will “protect those people’s rights to say what they want to say peacefully and in the appropriate time, place.”
But, he said, if protesters “cross from protected speech into illegal conduct,” by for example, shooting a commercial grade firework at law enforcement or dropping a brick on a police car, “They will be arrested. They will be prosecuted and they will be punished.”
Tensions rise over policing and protest response
As the event got started, Gabriel Quiroz of the social justice group Centro CSO, approached Hochman and unfurled a banner that read, “Fight The Fort Apache,” referring to a logo of a riot helmet atop a boot that the Sheriff’s East L.A. station has used.
The logo, which Eastside residents have railed as racist and culturally offensive, was born out of violent clashes between East L.A. deputies and anti-Vietnam War protesters during the 1970 Chicano Moratorium.
Quiroz was escorted out and other demonstrators joined him outside chanting, “Justice for Jeremy Flores!” Protesters continued to demonstrate as the event took place.
Gabriel Quiroz of the social justice group Centro CSO displaying a “Fight The Fort Apache” banner outside the Latino Community Town Hall on Thursday, Sept. 4. (Photo by Alejandra Molina/Boyle Heights Beat)
Crime crackdown, homelessness and East L.A. Cityhood
During the town hall, Hochman presented signage in Spanish and English for business owners to place on their doors to deter “would-be criminals” from stealing from their shops. It reads, “Warning! This is a protected business.” The sign notes that thefts will be prosecuted by the retail theft task force.
He talked about Proposition 36 – a new law that lengthens criminal sentences for certain theft and drug offenses and directs more people to drug treatment after convictions – which he said has resulted in 1,900 theft-related cases since the beginning of this year. “We are going after the fentanyl poisoners with second- degree murder charges when they kill someone,” he said. Concerns about fentanyl poisoning have led to educational efforts for middle and high school students, he said.
Hochman committed to hosting an annual town hall in East L.A. He also answered written questions from attendees touching on homelessness, police accountability, and illegal cannabis shops.
In his responses, he lauded the Sheriff’s Homeless Outreach Services Team, or HOST, for “transitioning homeless individuals to supportive services,” as well as the D.A’s Justice System Integrity Division, which looks at “inappropriate officer conduct.” On illegal cannabis shops, he said, “We’re going to go after the distributors. We’re going to go after the promoters and the illegal cannabis shops in order to promote the legitimate cannabis stores.”
The issue of whether East L.A. should become a city also came up in the submitted questions, even as a recent county analysis found that incorporation was financially unviable.
Hochman said that while he understands East L.A. wants more representation and resources, “the district attorney doesn’t play a role in that part of the political process.”
Community reactions — praise, pushback, and unanswered questions
Still, Bella Jimenez, who grew up in the East L.A. area, said she thought it was “critical that the D.A.’s office is involved with those conversations, specifically around quality of life needs and the current impacts that it’s facing with crime and theft.”
“It was a good, open conversation with the district attorney,” she said.
For Luz Legaspi, it was important to hear Hochman address what he can do “to help our people who are undocumented,” as well as how he plans to “deal with crime, the victims of crimes, and the people who commit crimes.”
Drugs, gangs, and violent crimes are the main issues affecting her East L.A. community, said Legaspi, who voted for Hochman because of his pledge “to prosecute violent crimes.”
Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman and Centro CSO member Carlos Montes at the Latino Town Hall aat East Los Tacos on Thursday, Sept. 4. (Photo by Alejandra Molina/Boyle Heights Beat)
As Hochman wrapped up his closing remarks, Centro CSO member Carlos Montes stood up from his seat and confronted him for not answering his question.
Hochman called him over after he finished speaking and the two huddled to discuss his question, which Montes said dealt with what Hochman planned to do about deputy gangs in the East L.A. Sheriff’s station.
“He said that if you have any issues … take it to the internal affairs division of the sheriff, and then they will take it to him,” Montes told Boyle Heights Beat. But the way Montes sees it, “The Sheriff’s internal division, they cover up for each other.”
Montes said Hochman “was very well prepared,” but at the same time, he felt Hochman mostly focused on a niche group of people, especially the small business community. “And the NIMBYs who don’t want housing, who don’t want young people running around the streets,” Montes said.
Stephanie Luna, an East L.A. resident, agreed. Luna said Hochman also didn’t answer her question, which touched on “the brutality that protesters faced from the Sheriff’s department protesting downtown.” Luna’s nephew, Anthony Vargas, was killed by two LASD deputies in 2018.
“He [Hochman] made a vow to prosecute anybody that has done any type of harm to law enforcement officials,” Luna added. “Does he have the same ferocity going after law enforcement officers that perpetrate harm on community members?”