Son of jailed radicals, reviled by the police union. Now, Chesa Boudin is San Francisco's top cop

[Judi Lynn]

Vivian Ho in San Francisco

Sun 17 Nov 2019 01.00 EST

The local deputy sheriffs union shared a video declaring him the “son of terrorists”. The police union called him the “#1 choice of criminals and gang members”. But after five days of vote tabulations and a narrow 2,500-vote lead, Chesa Boudin is San Francisco’s next top cop.

The son of two leftwing Weather Underground radicals who served as the getaway drivers in a 1981 armored car heist that left two police officers and a guard dead, Boudin last week won the race for San Francisco district attorney, vowing to bring change to a city with a liberal reputation that it has not always earned.

Across the country, progressives ranging from presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to civil rights activist Shaun King celebrated Boudin’s victory as the latest in a growing groundswell for criminal justice reform.

In a way, his victory reflects the sort of world that progressive criminal justice activists across the nation have been trying to build over the past few years: one in which a person’s mistakes do not dictate the rest of their lives – nor the lives of their children.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/16/son-of-jailed-radicals-reviled-by-the-police-union-now-chesa-boudin-is-san-franciscos-top-cop

[still_one]

1. First of all what the parents did are NOT the fault of the child. As for the parents, those were

not just “mistakes”, people were killed because of those “mistakes”

Sorry Guardian, the Weather Underground was not a nice non-violent group

[kimbutgar]

2. I voted for him because I was pissed the mayor appointed her pick 2 weeks before the election

also didn’t care if his parents were radicals. They served their time and raised a good son.