The 23-year-old man who recently attacked Dave Chappelle on stage in Los Angeles will soon walk free. The heavily scrutinized LA County District Attorney George Gascon will not prosecute the case at all because of the lack of felony charges. Instead, the case will be kicked down to the City Attorney in Municipal Court. He has been charged with four crimes in the lower court, all misdemeanors. And since LA County has a soft-on-crime policy, the man will probably not face any punishment at all for the crime he committed against Dave Chappelle.
The explanation behind a lack of felony charges for Chappelle’s attacker is that his weapon was not brandished during the attack. He had a replica gun with a real knife attached to it, sort of like the typical pocket knife. The issue is that when he climbed up on stage and tackled Chappelle, he left the weapon in his bag at his seat. There is clearly a case to be made when it comes to intent, especially since the young man had written a song about Dave Chappelle two years prior. Unfortunately, all of that evidence has been ignored and the person will most likely walk free.
Radio legend Howard Stern chimed in on the situation and he made fantastic points. Stern’s main problem is with how this situation was handled compared to the Will Smith disaster. Stern said that the Will Smith/Chris Rock case is no different than what just happened to Dave Chappelle. Both were comedians and both were attacked on stage during their performance for whatever reason the attacker has. The key difference here is that Will Smith was coddled like a baby afterward unlike the Chappelle attacker who was beaten beyond belief.
The message that is sent when Chappelle’s attacker goes unpunished by law enforcement is that it’s pretty much “open season” on comedians. This sentiment is shared by comedian Heather McDonald. She gained quite a bit of attention recently due to collapsing on stage shortly after receiving her “shots” for the virus. McDonald made a good point when she says law enforcement needs to punish this guy because she does not have an entourage of ten strapping males to behave as security for her like Dave Chappelle does. McDonald has even taken up the strategy of handing out free tickets to police officers so they can double as security in case someone wants to act a fool in the crowd.
SOURCES:
Howard Stern: Hollywood ‘f–ked up’ for Dave Chappelle vs. Will Smith
Heather McDonald Pissed Off Dave Chappelle Attacker Avoiding Felony Charge
Man Accused of Tackling Dave Chappelle Won’t Face Weapon Felony – The New York Times
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