When I announced my campaign 7 weeks ago, I was so excited to finally share my plan for a safer & better LA with all of you. From being the first DDA to speak out about George Gascón’s dangerous “day 1” directives & standing up to his failed leadership, it’s been quite a journey for my family & me. I’ve been all over the county from San Dimas to Lancaster, listening & meeting so many of you. And all of you have been right there with me. I thought now would be a good time to share with those of you who might be new to Team Hatami a little more about my story & what led me to step up and make this run for District Attorney. So much about what I stand for – what I believe in –where I came from, is all in this video. The support I’ve received in these weeks since kicking off my campaign has been humbling & inspiring. Thank you! I need you in this fight with me. Together, we’ll make Los Angeles safer for all of us. Visit JonathanHatami.com to donate TODAY! it will go a long way toward helping my campaign have the resources we’ll need to beat Gascón & his special interest donors.

Three matters I want to address on a Friday. And, this isn’t meant to tell people who to vote for. It’s really just how I feel.  (1) This NBA & WNBA issue with the National Anthem.  People can disagree with politicians. They come & go. Most are horrible. I really don’t like many of them. They stay way too long. They are selfish & addicted to power. Also, people can disagree with national policies implemented by those politicians. I do all the time. But, disrespecting our country, our flag, our troops, our anthem … it’s just something I could never do. Not after all I’ve seen & all I’ve been through.  I’m Persian, Italian and Puerto Rican. But, I’m through & through an American. You can dislike politicians but still love & respect our country.  (2) This Ohio campaign commercial issue  Child abuse survivors can carry their trauma with them their whole life. I’m 56. I still do. In politics, yes, everything is open game. It’s the nature of things. But, to me, whatever you do in your campaign is a direct reflection of you. Of how you will govern. Of how you will treat people. Of how you really feel about child abuse & domestic violence. Of your morals, your ethics, your beliefs and your ideals. Winning at all costs without integrity isn’t the winning I want to be a part of.  There are some, and they know exactly who they are, who think they can do and say whatever and then after the campaign is over, they are like - “we all good?” Yeah - No. F that. We aren’t.  What I’m saying isn’t political. It’s real. And it’s me. Anyone who decides to be inhuman just to win an election, you will never have my support. And that will never be something I do. My kids and being a Dad and role model to them and a leader to all the children I fight for everyday is just too important to me. (3) Taxes, tax increases and government studies I grew up poor so seeing $460,000 spent on a study to open a corrupt city bank or paying almost $600,000 to the newly created & elected county CEO seems like really a lot of money to me. It is the job of our County & City of Los Angeles to spend our money wisely. It’s also a sacred, moral and legal obligation to its residents.  The current group of our politicians, pretty much most of them, seem to care less. Spend, spend and more spend. And for all the spending they do, we see little to no real county and city improvements and eventually find out their friends or family members are the ones who benefit monetarily.  It lacks moral responsibility to the community

I do not know one person, one family member, one member of the public, law enforcement, or our AV & LA community who feels the torturer and murderers of little Gabriel should have their sentence commuted or reduced. No one. When it comes to the prolonged torture and murder of an innocent little child, when the evidence is clearly there, and a jury makes the decision, and a judge does the sentencing, that person or persons who committed the crimes should receive the ultimate punishment. In CA, that is capital punishment. It’s been voted on by the people many times. The process must be respected. Justice must be served. Gabriel deserves that. All children do. No one person, especially someone who supported & endorsed Gascon, has the individual right to change that.

Newsom put out a post today on crime statistics. Stats don’t tell the real story of actual victims, especially child victims. Don’t ever forget the children we lost. Always remember 🙏🏽

$460,000 in taxpayer money for a … study. For people who work in the public sector, it could take 3 years salary to make that kind of money. Giving it to a consultant for a study to open a bank run and controlled by the city of Los Angeles. The city doesn’t even know where millions upon millions of our money went that was supposed to help the homeless. Now they want to be in charge of a bank and they want to spend almost a half of million of our money to do a study on it? 1989, as a private, I think my LES said I made about $800 a month. It’s just gross the way our elected “leaders” just throw money away on really ridiculous ideas when we can’t even have operable street lights and most of us can’t afford our water & electric bills.

This is the result of Measure G - something I opposed. Paying a politician almost $600,000 a year with no term limits is just irresponsible. It’s also a slap in the face to most of us in LA County who work hard and live paycheck to paycheck I truly don’t know one politician in LA County who deserves that kind of money from their taxpayers. Making government bigger & bigger, allowing politicians in power to create new positions for themselves and paying a person serving the public almost $600,000 a year is obscene. Thank you Sup Barger for showing leadership & integrity.

Been watching some of my friends who are involved in local political races here in LA County. I have Dem friends, I have Repub friends and I have Independent/NPP friends - go figure. These races have become very nasty and very personal. Every city council member should make our community better, safer and stronger. Period. We all want a place where we can purchase a single family home, in a nice neighborhood, with good public schools, where we can raise our children in a safe, affordable and supportive environment. A place we can truly call “home.” Candidates personally attacking each other because they have beef is childish and lacks any type of leadership quality. It’s what we don’t want in an elected leader no matter the political party. Governance requires maturity. It’s not about power. It’s about giving back. If you want to represent all of us, you need to represent the best of us. Leaders must lead by example.

CA taxpayers spent more than $1 billion dollars allegedly putting clean trucks & buses on the road through a program called Hybrid and Zero Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP). Basically CA provides taxpayer funding for businesses & local governments to buy or lease zero emission vehicles and customers get up to 90% off the vehicles price. CA officials say it’s a resounding success. Well - that’s a lie. The LAT discovered that program officials in many cases didn’t know where the state funded vehicles were even located, who was operating them or whether the vehicles had even been assembled at all. At least 10 state funded vehicles that taxpayers paid for were never built or delivered. Where the money went is unclear. In one case, the state paid $1 million dollars for vehicles that didn’t even exist. A significant amount of truck & buses paid for by taxpayers were barely driven before customers either resold them, scraped them or parked them indefinitely. And, the state paid $50 million to deploy trucks & buses to a company whose founder was indicted for fraud. And, everyone in our state and my county of LA continues to vote for tax increases.

The State of CA spent approx $134 billion tax dollars on K-12 schools last year. New test results are out: Proficiency in English 49.3%. Proficiency in Math 38.4%. The majority of our CA students sadly fall short of proficiency in both important subjects. We have a major deficit in actual leadership here. Basically no one leads by example. No one is proactive. Children are not a priority. Schools should be about learning first. They also should be SAFE. The only ones really suffering from this failure are our children and families. It’s even more dire with our low income students. We have politicians prioritizing criminals, defining them as victims. Even thieves & murderers are now victims. Some legislators believe people serving LWOP need to be prioritized - those are murderers who also committed a special circumstance. The governor is considering commuting all DP sentences. Mental health diversion, elder parole, Props 47 & 57, and so much more are the priority sadly. How about actually helping children in early education BEFORE they enter a life of crime?

This October, Roxanne and I proudly continue our support for the #pinkpatchproject, breast cancer awareness month and our entire Los Angeles communities’ fight against breast cancer. Roxanne’s mom is a two-time survivor and we support and love her and support and love all our friends and survivors, while also honoring & remembering those we have lost, especially my friend Gloria Mitchell. Stand strong 💪🏽 and stand together against breast cancer. 🙏🏽 #BreastCancerAwareness #SupportTheFight

It shouldn’t take the murders of innocent victims and an extensive report from the LAT (thank you by the way for your reporting) for our “leaders” to actually do something to protect DV and vulnerable victims in Los Angeles. Our “leaders” here in LA completely lack vision, leadership and the ability to actually be proactive not reactive. And, just to be clear, you actually need to support the prosecution and punishment (that means prison) of violent people who hurt and kill vulnerable victims. And further support crime victims in general, not the murderers. Supporting a paper protective order, although a good first start which I fully support, isn’t close to enough. Performative statements don’t count. Victims matter!

On October 5, 2016, at 12:27 pm, LASD Sgt Steve Owen was murdered in the line of duty protecting us all. He had served our community honorably and faithfully for over 29 years. Father, husband, mentor, partner and my friend. My prayers are always with Tania, Shannon, your family, your friends, your fellow Deputies and the Santa Clarita and Antelope Valley communities. Rest easy my brother. You will never be forgotten. 🙏🏽

Starting today, LA County ties for the highest baseline county sales tax rate in the entire United States at 10.25%. Lancaster and Palmdale, where many of my friends and people I know already struggle to make ends meet, sales tax is now 11.75% - the highest in the state. I still just don’t understand how we keep voting to continuously give more & more money to our local government while services continue to get worse, our politicians continue to give more of our money to their friends, and fraud goes unchecked. How does this actually help everyday Angelenos who have both mom and dad working and sometimes it’s not even enough to support their families? This is not helping our kids. It’s not making schools better. It’s not making roads better or helping with public transit. It’s not making us safer. It’s not making housing more affordable, or food, or gas or utilities. Why do we keep voting for more and more tax increases and worse and worse politicians?

Family and I were so blessed to attend the 40th anniversary service this morning at Lancaster Baptist Church. 🙏🏽

On National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims, the Hatami family did stop, pause, think and pray about the loss of so many children, police officers, deputies, young people, innocent & vulnerable victims and loved ones to murder. ❤️ 🙏🏽 I personally know moms and dads who tragically lost their children to murder and their cases are still unsolved. I pray for my friends, loved ones and family that they will someday get justice. I think about all the cases I have personally handled over the years, and will never forget the children. I also will always remember my friends in law enforcement that we lost way too soon. The fight for justice for murdered victims isn’t just one day. It’s everyday. Always remember. Never forget.

After more than a decade, Gabriel’s Bill (AB 2304), has finally become law. GABRIEL’s LAW was just signed by the Governor ❤️🙏🏽 Gabriel will always be a part of my life and my families’ life. He passed away on May 22, 2013, but I think of him every single day. Even today, when I’m in another child homicide trial, I think about Gabriel and what his life taught me. We, as a society, must always do everything we can to protect vulnerable children before innocent lives are lost. Gabriel’s Law is a good step in doing just that. It will strengthen protections for abused children and increase accountability for child social workers. There is always more work to be done and we will continue our battle to protect children. Olivia, Emily and I have been involved in getting this bill passed for many years. People have repeatedly asked why it took so long. One answer - Sacramento. Most politicians don’t care about children in the system. However, there was one who stood by us - Tom Lackey. Thank you Tom. And, thank you Olivia and Emily. Our children are our future. Please do your part to protect them and help them grow. Never forget Gabriel. His life mattered. His legacy continues.

Roxanne, I and our family send our sincerest thoughts and prayers to Ryan Clinkunbroomer’s family, fiancé, friends, fellow LASD Deputies and the Antelope Valley & Santa Clarita communities. Ryan was senselessly murdered three years ago today protecting us all. So today, let’s honor and remember Ryan’s service, sacrifice and commitment to our safety and community and his duty to protect all of us. Ryan, you will never be forgotten. 🙏🏽

On National Police Women’s Day we honor the brave women who keep our Los Angeles County, City, community, children, and families safe. Thank you for your dedication, sacrifice and faithful service to our nation. You are appreciated! A special ‘Thank You’ to my wife, LASD Detective Roxanne Hatami, for being a wonderful mom, a best friend, and a role model to our children. Thank you for everything that you do to keep our Santa Clarita community safe for all of us.

Wanting justice for abused & murdered children has nothing to do with race, gender, political party, or your personal issues. We all should want that. …sit with that for just a second.