LOS ANGELES – The debate over capital punishment in California has resurfaced with the family of slain Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer incensed by District Attorney George Gascón’s decision not to seek the death penalty for the alleged killer.
“I don’t feel [Gascón] felt my son’s life was worth anything,” Kim Clinkumbroomer, his mother, told KTLA’s Rich Chambers on Wednesday. “You’re telling me that this individual’s life is more important than my son’s.”
“He’s just making us feel like we’re nobody, and we’re not important enough and Ryan’s life wasn’t important enough,” Brittany Lindsey, Clinkunbroomer’s fiancée, told us.
Prosecutors say Kevin Salazar, 29, fatally shot Clinkunbroomer with a .22-caliber revolver on Sept. 16 as the deputy was stopped at a red light in his patrol vehicle near the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station.
Salazar, whose family says suffers from mental health issues, was arrested two days later after a standoff at his Palmdale home.
According to ABC News, Salazar has confessed.
Capital punishment is still an option for California prosecutors. However, it has been 17 years since an inmate was executed in the Golden State, and, in 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order enacting a moratorium.
The debate over executing inmates in California and elsewhere has often fallen along party lines with more Republicans supporting its use than Democrats. That said, a 2021 Pew Research Center survey found that 60% of American adults, regardless of political party, favor the death penalty for those convicted of murder.
In his executive order, Newsom called the death penalty system a “failure” that has discriminated against the mentally ill, poor, and people of color, and has “wasted” billions of taxpayer dollars through endless appeals.
Opponents also argue that the death penalty does not serve as a deterrent to violent crime.
Instead, Gascon says his office will pursue – what he calls – the “maximum punishment available” in the Salazar case, meaning life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“I run on a very clear platform and that was I would never seek the death penalty,” he told KTLA.
Clinkunbroomer’s family disagrees and said they were blindsided by the announcement of the charges during the Sept. 20 press conference.
“Just to say that it’s okay for [Salazar] to spend the rest of his life in prison … that we’re going to try to seek the maximum penalty. If you’re trying to seek the maximum penalty, it’s the death penalty.”
Gascón, however, said he remembers the timeline of events differently.
“I’m very sorry and going back, maybe I should have been more clear,” Gason said of the moments before the public announcement. “I talked to the family before we went out, when we were in the green room and I said, ‘We are seeking life without the possibility of parole.’”
Gascón said he stands behind his decision.
“Even if the death penalty were sought and a jury handed down such a sentence, it is highly probable that the individual would die of natural causes before being executed,” he said. “If found guilty, this person will never be released from prison.”
Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer’s funeral is scheduled for Oct. 5. He will be laid to rest at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale.