Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has called it “morally repulsive” for “woke politicians” to threaten the jobs of 4,000 of his staff for not getting COVID-19 vaccines.
Villanueva told Fox News Digital that he faces the sweeping staffing cuts even though he has already lost 1,281 personnel due to budget cuts he blamed on “the ‘woke-privilege’ crowd.”
“They insist on doubling down on stupid while the community is suffering from those effects of defunding,” the sheriff said.
“It is absolutely idiotic to push an agenda that’s going to cause that many people to leave while we’re in the middle of a crime surge,” he said.
He ripped officials in Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for approving the mass firing of officers who had been hailed as heroes early in the pandemic.
“I think it’s morally repulsive to think that the same people that had to … expose themselves to the virus when there was no vaccine, are the same people they want to fire today,” he said of his staff.
Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva says it is “morally reprehensible” to threaten officers who were forced to work through covid and expose themselves to the virus with losing their jobs. Fox NewsHe warned of a “long legal battle” to ensure his staff “will not lose their jobs.”
“We’re gonna continue to serve the community, I don’t care what these woke politicians want to do. But hopefully one day that they’re not going to be in office anymore,” he told the online outlet.
He said the “elite political class” behind the defund-the-police movement was “still pushing that false narrative that we’re some kind of existential threat to young black men.”
Sheriff Alex Villanueva promised to challenge the mandates in court and said the “defund the police” movement was causing an increase in murders. MediaNews Group via Getty Images“The fact is, people are dying on the street — and it’s not because of law enforcement, it’s because of the absence of law enforcement,” he insisted.
A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors told Fox News Digital that the motion “did not single out” the sheriff’s department.
“It applies to all county departments,” the spokeswoman said, insisting staff had been given “a generous timeline” to comply and get jabbed, with “termination only as a last resort.”
A spokesman for the LA Board of Supervisors says the Sheriff’s department is not being singled out and that the mandates apply to all city agencies. AFP via Getty Images“Despite the sheriff’s assertions to the contrary, the board did not vote to terminate a single employee. The county’s vaccination policy is intended to protect the health of employees and the public they serve,” the spokeswoman said.
