By Garth Meyer
A talk by L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman in the South Bay June 3 turned into a question-and-answer shout-down by Black Lives Matter protesters.
The contentious moments made up the last few minutes of the event, effectively shutting out any further questions.
Hochman came to the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center at the invitation of City Councilmen Scott Behrendt and Zein Obagi, Jr., as part of their “Pillars of Public Safety” series.
During Hochman’s presentation, he told of his seven years as a federal prosecutor, during which he prosecuted 26 deputy sheriffs in the ‘90s for stealing money from narcotics investigations; and set up the L.A. Sheriff’s Foundation in 2020, crediting his brother with the idea.
He contrasted his D.A. work with that of his predecessor, George Gascon.
“We’re back to the evidence and the law,” Hochman said.
He talked of priority areas such as residential burglaries, organized retail theft, human trafficking and fentanyl poisonings.
Hochman told of Proposition 36, passed the same day he was elected in 2024. The law made it so a defendant with two or more convictions would be subject to a stronger sentence. He counted 3,500 of these cases so far.
“I keep thinking about this fact: ten percent of the people are committing 50% of the crime,” Hochman said. “If all I do is fill prisons to the breaking point, I will have failed. It’s about deterrence.”
He showed an example of 13,000 window stickers the D.A.’s office has given out – and still is giving out – to retail stores which read: “Warning: This is a Protected Business.”
“Every business is a protected business,” Hochman said, noting that these are just ones with a sticker on the window, which he suggested anecdotally has led to less theft.
He showed a yard sign which read, “This neighborhood has a powerful ally,” regarding property crime.
He went on to talk about wildfire-related crime, following Jan. 7, 2025.
“I had no idea what that was, until it happened,” Hochman said, naming crimes such as impersonating fire personnel, unlicensed contractors and price gouging.
He talked about protest-related crimes, and “a very clear demarcation” between free speech and “dropping a molotov cocktail off of an overpass onto a police vehicle, or shooting a firework at police.”
Q&A began and Hochman fielded a question about ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) saying his office has no contact with them before a raid; he often finds out when everyone else does.
Hochman answered a question about cold cases, then a question came from the back, where a group of about a dozen people had stood and listened to the presentation, displaying a “Black Lives Matter” banner and other identifiers of the cause.
The question was about “LAPD murder rates.” Hochman said he was the only L.A. County D.A. in history who has prosecuted police officers. He noted a motion filed that week in a second degree murder case against an LAPD officer.
Another question came from the back, a woman asking about Keith Porter, Jr., who was shot and killed by an off-duty ICE agent last New Year’s Eve in Northridge.
“You have an M.O.U. (Memorandum of Understanding) with every police department, do you not?” she said.
Hochman began to answer and the questioner spoke again, pushing for more from him.
In front of her, in the seated rows, someone said to “shut up.”
“No! You shut up!” the questioner said.
Hochman continued his answer, while Councilman Behrendt took to his microphone to try to calm the proceedings. The D.A. said that cases of officer-involved shootings, since 2020, all go immediately to the state attorney general’s office.
“In five years, the California A.G. has not brought a case,” Hochman said.
The questioners in the back continued, saying that if an everyday citizen kills someone, it would not be six months before they were at least arrested.
Hochman started to respond to that, but was interrupted once more, as Redondo Beach Police officers in attendance looked on.
“You’re lying to these white people here! What are you going to do about the facts…?!” the woman continued. “This is serious! You don’t get to …!”
“And you don’t get to ask questions the entire time,” Hochman said of the limited Q&A.
Councilman Behrendt spoke again, in an attempt to maintain order, and move on to the next question. The event soon concluded.
“Black Lives Matter! They matter here!” called one protester, as others responded.
“Rise up, resist… the whole damn system is guilty as hell!”
Attendees began to clear out, as did some of the protesters.
“We just came into their community and ruined it, just like they do to our f—ing community,” one protester woman said as she exited the Performing Arts Center.
Hochman has previously been criticized for downgrading or dismissing charges in police misconduct cases brought by Gascon. Activists and some former prosecutors have said that Hochman’s decisions were expected, since his campaign was supported by major contributions from police unions.
Hochman has responded by saying his office backed off the cases because there was not enough evidence to prove the charges. ER
“We just came into their community and ruined it”. LOL!