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La fiscal Lisa Smittcamp se dirige a la Junta de Supervisores. Captura de pantalla de la transmisi\u00f3n en vivo<\/p>\nLa fiscal Lisa Smittcamp se dirige a la Junta de Supervisores. Captura de pantalla de la transmisi\u00f3n en vivo<\/p>\n
Board Advances Arming of Even More County Employees<\/p>\n
At its September 8 meeting, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the first reading of an amendment to the county ordinance code that would let the district attorney authorize prosecutors and special investigators in her office to carry concealed guns on county property.<\/p>\n
The ordinance was brought forward by Chair Garry Bredefeld (District 2), Sheriff John Zanoni, District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp and Supervisor Nathan Magsig (District 5), giving the impression that together they form a tough law-and-order flank. Smittcamp was present to speak about the ordinance, which was triggered by an August 20 incident in which a prosecutor was stabbed in Courthouse Park by a former defendant.<\/p>\n
The decision follows a June expansion of a November 2020 \u201cconcealed-carry weapon\u201d policy, which allows sitting members of the Board and their staff to carry guns on the job. This vote expanded that permission to the county administrative officer (CAO), county counsel\u2014and, with the CAO\u2019s permission, any other county employee. It was unclear why yet another guns-on-the-job amendment was needed.<\/p>\n
Bredefeld described the stabbing incident, shrugging often as he spoke, as though to indicate that the new ordinance was necessary, long overdue, obvious and inevitable.<\/p>\n
Smittcamp, noting that the injured prosecutor had recovered and returned to work, admitted that her office was \u201cstill developing a policy\u201d regarding guns and workplace safety. If workers carry weapons, they must be trained, she said, raising questions about why such a training and safety policy had not been developed before determining that more employees should be authorized to carry guns.<\/p>\n
Smittcamp spoke animatedly and at length about threats and harassment she herself has experienced and about California state policies to which she objected, such as the mental-health diversion law (Penal Code Section 1001.36), a pretrial program that allows eligible people who have qualifying mental-health disorders to receive treatment rather than go to trial or serve jail time.<\/p>\n
Smittcamp complained that \u201cpeople who commit attempted murder are eligible for mental-health diversion\u201d based on a court order, calling it a \u201cstate issue\u201d and implying that legal solutions were beyond the county\u2019s jurisdiction. She cited a particular offender, an attorney whose wife is a doctor, who she said often threatens her. Other recent threats, she noted, came from someone she called a \u201cbeautiful criminology major\u201d at Fresno State who has expressed opposition to prosecutors carrying guns. \u201cWe cannot rely on the criminal justice system that we are a part of to protect us,\u201d Smittcamp said, appearing to make the case for arming her staff based on state laws she doesn\u2019t like or to which she is ideologically opposed.<\/p>\n
However, Smittcamp did not mention that the mental-health diversion law has recently been reformed: Assembly Bill 46, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in June 2026 and taking effect in January 2027, changes the current law by requiring defendants to prove that their qualifying diagnosis was made within five years before the alleged offense, to prevent opportunists from getting a new diagnosis for the purpose of evading criminal charges.<\/p>\n
Zanoni said that the demand for concealed-carry gun permission \u201ckeeps growing.\u201d He described monthly \u201cmass trainings\u201d of 200 people at the sheriff\u2019s range. He, too, said that \u201cwe need a policy,\u201d adding for emphasis, \u201ctraining, training, proficiency, proficiency.\u201d Again, these disclosures gave the impression that the ordinance was being rushed through without detailed provisions for training and safety protocols. Though Zanoni repeated the false claim that the increased presence of guns \u201cwill deter incidents,\u201d he also brought up the county\u2019s potential liability in case of \u201caccidents\u201d but offered no details, raising yet another concern about the prematurity of the ordinance.<\/p>\n
Magsig made bold to say that \u201cwe will not tolerate crime\u201d and that \u201cwe\u2019re very supportive\u201d of those \u201cexercising their Second Amendment rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
Supervisor Luis Chavez (District 3), appearing to question the need for the ordinance change but framing his question in a diffident manner, asked Smittcamp if there was \u201canything else we can do to make sure our folks are safe,\u201d to which she replied that arming her staff with deadly weapons was \u201cjust one step.\u201d She mentioned the need to \u201cincrease security staff\u201d in the courthouse, which she noted would require more funding, and added that staff must apply to her, as head of the department, for the gun permit.<\/p>\n
As these remarks wound down, Bredefeld was heard clearing his throat as though plotzing to speak. He began by lamenting the state government, as he often does: \u201cWe live in a society here in California\u201d without a \u201creal justice system.\u201d In a \u201creal\u201d one, there would be no mental-health diversion program, and those such as the man who harassed Smittcamp \u201cwould be in prison.\u201d He reasoned that \u201cpolice can\u2019t be everywhere,\u201d implying that ordinary citizens have no choice but to take up the slack by packing pistols. \u201cWe believe in the Second Amendment,\u201d he said, quipping with a snicker that \u201can armed society is a \u2018polite\u2019 society.\u201d<\/p>\n
There were no public comments on the item.<\/p>\n
Bredefeld Ascends Soapbox<\/p>\n
Bredefeld used the section of the meeting when supes discuss committee work or goings-on in their districts to grandstand about the upcoming anniversary of 9\/11 as well as that of the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who died by gun violence on September 10 last year. Bredefeld read from a written statement, complete with syntactical oddities and full of references to his many bugaboos.<\/p>\n
He dispatched his September 11 speech with stock statements about heroic first responders, noting that America was in an \u201congoing war against evil and terrorism,\u201d adding \u201cGod bless America, the greatest country on earth,\u201d before pivoting to his more emotionally charged speech about Kirk, which he framed in terms of an urgent moral battle. He called Kirk \u201cbrilliant\u201d for \u201cgoing into the lion\u2019s den\u201d of college campuses to conduct \u201cdebates\u201d about culture-war issues. Kirk opposed \u201cwoke ideology,\u201d \u201cgenital mutilation\u201d (an allusion to gender-affirming care) and other things Bredefeld hates and often invokes, even when not the subject at hand. Kirk, posited Bredefeld, \u201cwas murdered for speaking the truth,\u201d hyperbolically framing the right-wing provocateur as a martyr. Now Kirk was \u201cin the arms of Jesus,\u201d according to Bredefeld.<\/p>\n
No remarks from Chavez, Buddy Mendes (District 4) or Brian Pacheco (District 1). Pacheco was conspicuously silent throughout the meeting. While he has often said that he speaks only when necessary, by remaining silent, he implicitly permits other voices and opinions to dominate, and observers may have the impression that he is disengaged.<\/p>\n
Public Comment: Library Privatization?<\/p>\n
Four library employees, union members wearing \u201cKeep Libraries Public\u201d T-shirts, were present to speak against the threat of privatization of the county library, in reaction to Bredefeld\u2019s recent request to CAO Paul Nerland for a report on the feasibility of privatization. Union representative Riley Talford, also in a \u201cKeep Libraries Public\u201d T-shirt, said he was present in support of the library\u2019s union employees.<\/p>\n
Bredefeld suggested privatizing the library because he objected to the inclusion of gay-themed young-adult books in its collection. Critics and observers say that Bredefeld has not otherwise been successful at banning such books and sees privatization as a sure means of doing so. Nerland has not said when the requested report would be available, but local activists and library supporters have been organized and outspoken in opposing any attempt at privatization.<\/p>\n
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