DA Todd Spitzer “Must Resign” Over Alleged Racist Remarks

Since OC Watch first covered the explosive scandal rocking District Attorney Todd Spitzer and the county—the leak of memos that document Spitzer allegedly making improper racial remarks that he knows many black men who get themselves out of “their bad circumstances and bad situations by only dating ‘white women’”—Orange County Democratic Party Chairwoman Ada Briceño told OC Watch that she has called for Spitzer’s resignation:

“Racism must stop. Spitzer must resign. This is one of many examples why Spitzer is unfit to serve in our halls of justice.”

Spitzer’s latest scandal has also been covered by BuzzFeed, Politico California, The Los Angeles Times, Voice of OC, The Orange County Register, The New York Daily News, and several Southern California television news stations. Here’s a snapshot of the coverage:

• POLITICO California Playbook: “YIKES … “O.C. D.A. made racist comments in case of Black defendant, memo alleges,” by the LA Times’ Hannah Fry: “At a meeting of top prosecutors on Oct. 1, Spitzer said that he knows many Black men who date white women to get ‘themselves out of their bad circumstances and bad situations,’ former prosecutor Ebrahim Baytieh alleged in a memo dated Dec. 3.”

• BuzzFeed: “Internal reports and lawsuits against the county have alleged the office is an environment where retaliation and favoritism have become commonplace…. The allegations have cast a cloud over the district attorney’s office among its own rank and file, who have said the fear of retaliation within the office is real.”

• Voice of OC: “District Attorney Todd Spitzer is facing explosive allegations from his own staff that he improperly made racial remarks when he and other prosecutors were deciding whether to seek the death penalty against a Black defendant – and then kicked everyone from the meeting off the case after they noted a legal obligation to disclose Spitzer’s remarks to the defense…”

• The Orange County Register: “The furor over Spitzer’s comments comes a week after he fired Baytieh following the conclusion of an investigation into whether Baytieh withheld evidence in a 2010 murder case, causing the conviction to be overturned. Baytieh’s defenders say he actually was fired for being a whistleblower on ‘racist comments.’”

• The Los Angeles Times: “Spitzer then drew from his personal experience, according to the memo. In college, Spitzer said, he knew a Black student who dated only white women. According to the memo, which was addressed to defense attorneys in the Buggs case, Spitzer allegedly said he “knew for sure that this black student did so on purpose to get himself out of his bad circumstances and situations.”

• The New York Daily News: “A top prosecutor in Southern California claimed that Black men “get themselves out of their bad circumstances and bad situations by only dating ‘white women,’” according to internal memos.”

• FOX LA: “Spitzer's Democratic challenger in this year's election called on Spitzer to resign over the alleged comments. ‘Todd Spitzer's consideration of race while deciding whether or not California should execute a Black man isn't just appalling, it's disqualifying,’ Pete Hardin said. ‘Our system of justice must be colorblind, and the chief law enforcement officer just showed himself to be anything but. Todd Spitzer's racist remarks and dated thinking have infected cases across the office and cast a shadow over every prosecution involving a person of color.’”