Trump Justice Department To Investigate LA Sheriff's Department, UCLA

LOS ANGELES, CA — President Donald Trump's Justice Department announced a flurry of investigations into California institutions Thursday including UCLA and an unlikely target: the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The U.S. Justice Department announced investigations into diversity policies at several California universities and the pace of concealed weapon permitting by the sheriff's department.

"As part of a broader review of restrictive firearms-related laws in California and other States, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division today announced an investigation into the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to determine whether it is engaging in a pattern or practice of depriving ordinary, law-abiding Californians of their Second Amendment rights," the United States Justice Department announced in a written statement.

The Justice Department appeared to imply that the sheriff's department may be violating residents' Second Amendment rights by taking too long to process applications for concealed carry permits.

"Some States and localities, however, have resisted this recent pro-Second Amendment caselaw. And California has been a particularly egregious offender. In response to recent Supreme Court caselaw, California enacted new legislation to further restrict the ability of ordinary, law-abiding Californians to keep and bear arms." the Justice Department claimed. "And many California localities appear to be imposing additional burdens beyond those required by California state law, including by subjecting ordinary, law-abiding Californians to expensive fees and lengthy weight [sic] times associated with applications for concealed handgun licenses."

Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was also Trump's attorney during his first impeachment trial, warned the case may the first of many similar investigations "involving other localities in California, the state of California itself," and other states.

“This Department of Justice will not stand idly by while States and localities infringe on the Second Amendment rights of ordinary, law-abiding Americans,” said Bondi. “The Second Amendment is not a second-class right, and under my watch, the department will actively enforce the Second Amendment just like it actively enforces other fundamental constitutional rights.”

The sheriff's department issued a statement in response, denying any effort to infringe on Second Amendment rights.

“We are committed to processing all Concealed Carry Weapons (CCW) applications in compliance with state and local laws to promote responsible gun ownership,” the department responded in a written statement obtained by the Los Angeles Times. “The Department is facing a significant staffing crisis, with only 14 personnel in our CCW Unit, yet we have successfully approved 15,000 CCW applications. Currently, we are diligently working through approximately 4,000 active cases, striving to meet this unfunded mandate.”

The Times quoted Jacob Charles, a Pepperdine Caruso School of Law associate professor, who called the investigation “another culture war issue pitting red versus blue” amid a broader flurry of “partisan targeting” by the Trump administration.

“This has to be seen in the context of Trump attacking law firms, universities, and cities, counties and states who don’t profess fealty to him personally and to his vision,” he told the paper. “He’s not even pretending to be a president for all of America.”

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and agencies across the Golden State have garnered the ire of Trump for following longstanding policy in not participating in ICE sweeps, effectively stymying the president's agenda of mass deportations, particularly in Southern California.

"I can assure people that we are not going to participate in [ICE] sweeps," Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Robert Luna told ABC7 last month. ""For an immigration challenge, that is a civil immigration issue; it's a federal law enforcement issue ... We in local law enforcement have our hands full. Most of our departments are short-staffed."

Trump has been open about his frustration with law enforcement in sanctuary cities such as Los Angeles.

This week, Trump told reporters he was preparing an executive order that would "end sanctuary cities."

The administration also announced investigations into California universities Thursday, including Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Los Angeles, and University of California, Irvine.

According to the Justice Department, Bondi ordered compliance review investigations into admissions policies at the universities to ensure they aren't prioritizing diversity.

“President Trump and I are dedicated to ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity across the country,” said Pamela Bondi. “Every student in America deserves to be judged solely based on their hard work, intellect, and character, not the color of their skin.”

Thursday's announcements aren't the first time Trump's justice department has made headlines about gun permits in Los Angeles or uncommon investigations.

Last month, the Justice Department sent a letter to Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, accusing the congressman of making a threat against a public official for his criticism of Elon Musk during an interview with CNN and of implying that Musk is a crude pejorative at a Congressional hearing.

"This sounds to some like a threat on Mr. Musk - an appointed representative of President Donald Trump who you call a 'dick' - and government staff who work for him. Their concerns led to this inquiry," the letter read.

And this month, a justice department attorney claimed she was fired for refusing to restore gun rights to President Donald Trump's Special Ambassador to Hollywood Mel Gibson, who lost the right to possess guns due to a 2011 domestic violence conviction.

SEE ALSO:

• Justice Department Scrutinizes Rep. Garcia Over Alleged Musk Threat
• Prosecutor Says She Was Fired For Refusing To Restore Mel Gibson's Gun Rights: Report