An angel investor launched a fundraiser with the stated goal of hiring an investigative journalist to cover San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin after two women were killed by a parolee who his office helped free.
Jason Calacanis, an angel investor who has invested in companies including Uber, is trying to raise $75,000 to hold Boudin and his office “accountable to the people of San Francisco.”
“I launched it after the tragedy over New Years in which two citizens were murdered by a repeat offender,” Calacanis told the Daily Caller. Troy McAlister, 45, was charged with felony vehicular manslaughter after running a red light while driving a stolen vehicle, and striking and killing Elizabeth Platt, 60, and Hanako Abe, 27.
Troy McAlister appears for his arraignment at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco Tuesday, January 5. McAlister is accused of killing two women after speeding through a stoplight in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood in a stolen car on New Year’s Eve @sfchronicle pic.twitter.com/c0PrAFJLBD
— Jessica Christian (@jachristian) January 5, 2021
McAlister is a parolee who Boudin freed from a potential life prison term. McAlister was awaiting a trial on a 2015 robbery charge, and had prior convictions for robbery and carjacking. Under California’s Three Strikes law, McAlister could have faced a life sentence, but Boudin issued a policy in February not to pursue Three Strikes cases or cases with sentencing enhancements, citing how such policies primarily target “black and brown populations.”
“These enhancements exacerbate racial disparities in the justice system: 45% of people serving life sentences in [California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation] under the Three Strikes law are black,” the policy directive from Boudin’s office said.
McAlister was arrested after the New Year’s eve killings and charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and multiple enhancements related to prior convictions.
DEVELOPING: The San Francisco District Attorney says charges have been filed against Troy McAlister, arrested after a hit-and-run that killed two pedestrians on New Year’s Eve. pic.twitter.com/aqeVNXGQ0K
— Joe Vazquez (@joenewsman) January 4, 2021
The fundraiser has passed the halfway mark, at over $43,000 as of Thursday after being active for 3 days. The journalist would focus on covering Boudin’s office and his approach, and will “be given autonomy.”
“We will be looking for a beat reporter starting next week, now that it has crossed $40k, enough to fund the project for the first six months or so,” Calacanis told the Caller.
San Francisco experienced an increase in burglary and homicide in the first nine months of 2020, although other crimes including theft, rape, robbery, and assault cases decreased when compared to the prior year. (RELATED: San Francisco Sees Rise In Home Burglaries, Homicides)
Boudin, who was elected in 2019, has pushed for criminal justice reform, and pledged not to prosecute quality-of-life crimes including public urination or offering or soliciting sex in an effort to “decriminalize poverty and homelesness” in one of the U.S.’s most expensive cities that has a skyrocketing homeless population.
He has also pushed for his father, convicted murderer and member of the far-left domestic terrorist group the Weather Underground, to be released from prison because of the coronavirus pandemic.