{"id":19154,"date":"2021-06-19T11:26:05","date_gmt":"2021-06-19T18:26:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=19154"},"modified":"2021-06-19T11:27:47","modified_gmt":"2021-06-19T18:27:47","slug":"washington-post-not-the-sf-news-media-exposes-lies-about-boudin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/06\/19\/washington-post-not-the-sf-news-media-exposes-lies-about-boudin\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Post \u2014 not the SF news media \u2014 exposes lies about Boudin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The inaccurate reporting and social media just continues, as most of the major local media stands by or goes along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By TIM REDMOND<\/a> JUNE 17, 2021 (48hills.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Washington Post has finally done what San Francisco news media, by and large, have failed to do: Explain that much of the media narrative about District Attorney Chesa Boudin is not only biased but factually wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The folks in DC, 3,000 miles away, seem to be able to get the story right.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In a June 14 story<\/a>, opinion columnist Radley Balko takes particular issue with the way KGO Reporter Dion Lim has been covering \u2013 more accurately, attacking \u2013 Boudin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balko puts it in the context of an overall backlash against progressive prosecutors, but he gets into some great detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is, for example, the story of Harry Mulholland, who scared off some people who were trying to carjack a 75-year-old woman\u2019s vehicle. Lim reported that all charges against a 16-year-old arrested at the scene had been dropped \u2013 creating a social media furor that has helped fuel the recall drive against Boudin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as the Post reports:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lim\u2019s resulting article<\/a> went viral, especially after right-wing agitator Andy Ng\u00f4<\/a> amplified it on Twitter. The story resonated with Boudin\u2019s critics, and with critics of the reformist prosecutor movement more generally. For them, it seemed to be a manifestation of everything wrong with \u201crestorative justice.\u201d<\/p>

The problem is that Lim was wrong. The charges against the assailant were never dropped. In California, as in most states,juvenile cases are generally sealed, so state law prevents the DA\u2019s office from discussing the case with the public. But in phone interviews, both the victim and Mulholland tell me they were informed by Boudin\u2019s office that Lim\u2019s story is inaccurate, that the juvenile not only still faces charges but thatshe also had a court date last week.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


Another criticism<\/a> of Boudin is that his office failed to bring enough cases to trial <\/a>last year. But the pandemic closed courtrooms<\/a> across the country, including in San Francisco.<\/a> Most<\/em> jurisdictions in the United States saw only a fraction of the trials<\/a> they typically hold each year. Boudin\u2019s charging rates<\/a> for both violent and property crimes are similar to that of his predecessor, according to Mission Local. And as Boudin points out, San Francisco police made arrests<\/a> in only about 10 percent of burglaries last year. A DA can\u2019t file charges if the police don\u2019t make arrests.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The KGO reporting has been consistently hostile toward Boudin \u2013 and often inaccurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s one example: A 45-year-old parolee was arrested after a hit-and-run that killed two people<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with the New York Times<\/a>, Boudin said that the man\u2019s mental state was dubious, citing an earlier incident where he was randomly punching cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That became a KGO Tweet:<\/p>\n\n\n\n