Progressives and neo-Marxists across the country blushed at the thought of San Francisco having an unabashed socialist as district attorney who pledged to radically reshape the city’s criminal justice practices.
Just two days on the job, Chesa Boudin is delivering on what he promised: the Bay Area’s new D.A. has fired seven prosecutors, many of them seasoned veterans who have worked to get violent criminals off the streets.
“I had to make difficult staffing decisions today in order to put in place a management team that will help me accomplish the work I committed to do for San Francisco,” Boudin said in a statement to KPIX-TV.
A top prosecutor known for defending domestic violence victims was fired
Among those fired on Friday was Mike Swart, who worked for 10 years as an attorney in the San Francisco D.A.’s homicide unit. Swart was a well-respected prosecutor who helped bring to justice the killer of Pearla Ann Louis, a woman who was murdered and stuffed into a suitcase.
Louis’ daughter told NBC San Francisco that she was “appalled” by Boudin’s decision to terminate Swart.
“This is a blow to the judicial system,” Ayesha Louis said. “I’m appalled he would be fired,” she added while noting that Swart had been “promoted after my mom’s trial.” In 2017, the Commission on the Status of Women of the City & County of San Francisco recognized Swart for his “skillful presentation of the facts” in the trial that resulted in a guilty verdict.
Other prosecutors who were terminated included: Linda Allen, managing attorney; Ana Gonzalez, head of the gang unit; and four trial attorneys with significant experience.
“What’s strange is that these people aren’t being moved, they’re not being demoted, they’re being fired and they’re being told that essentially their services have no use in the office anymore,” Tony Brass, a former assistant D.A. who was critical of the terminations, told CBS San Francisco. “I’ve worked with these people both as a co-worker and as an opponent.”
Deputy Sheriffs: Boudin is a ‘communist radical of sorts’
NBC News noted in December that Boudin was called a “communist radical of sorts” by the San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs’ Association during his campaign. As TheBlaze has reported, Chesa Boudin ran as a progressive prosecutor and has a long sordid history of far-left activism and ties to Marxists, including having once worked for late Venezuelan ruler Hugo Chavez.
Boudin’s candidacy was acclaimed by American socialists, including the magazine Jacobin, which described him as “the child of revolutionaries.” In an interview, Boudin described Weather Underground bomber Bill Ayers and his wife Bernardine Dohrn, who the FBI once added to its “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list, as his “adoptive parents.”
His campaign was supported by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour, who said she cried tears of joy upon learning of his election victory.
*story by The Blaze