Is Sacramento County District Attorney Losing Support Before Election?

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Sacramento City Councilman Allen Warren announced he's pulling his support from Sacramento County District Ann Marie Schubert's re-election campaign.

Now local activists say he's not the only city leader who has lost confidence in Schubert.

"She's not listening to the people, she's not trying to talk to the people," said Berry Accius, founder of Voice of the Youth.

In this letter, Warren wrote he's been observing national injustices like "policing," "criminalization of the poor," and "the heavy-handedness of our justice system." He continued by saying "… given the current state of affairs…I am rescinding my endorsement of the current District Attorney until I am completely comfortable that the justice system will be fairly applied."

"I do believe what Allen Warren did is now going to set precedent into other folks looking at what they are endorsing," Accius said.

Community leaders from Black Lives Matter and Voice of the Youth joined together Friday night for a panel discussion called Trap The Vote. Their goal: to encourage the youth of color to get out and vote for the change they want to see in their communities.

And after Warren pulled his support from Schubert, some young voters were left torn about what to do with their own votes.

"I tell them, look up Stephon Clark," said Kali Ausselet, a 20-year-old Sac City College student. "I tell them, look up your districts, I tell them, look at what's going on, I tell them, look at what decisions are being made on your behalf."

She said racial issues are her top concern.

Community activist Barry Accius said the decisions for many young people may come down to one name: Stephon Clark.

"If you want to see people continue dying in your community, if you don't vote, this will be continuous," he said.

Rashid Sidqe, co-founder of the Law Enforcement Accountability Directive, told CBS13 other city leaders also have reservations about the DA.

"They have been very vague about their support of Schubert," he said.

But Sidqe said councilmen Larry Carr and Rick Jennings plan to meet and possibly re-evaluate their position.

"They're afraid of pulling their support of Schubert because if they pull their support, it's kind of making a statement to the police union," Sidqe said. "Hopefully after they meet and actually they see that Warren has taken the lead on this, that they will follow the lead."

Warren's letter doesn't address Schubert's role in the Joseph Mann or Stephon Clark cases however Accius said Warren's disappointment in Schubert's performance is written between the lines.

"Her response by herself has led us to all this theory, does she really care about black people?" Accius said.

CBS13 reached out to Schubert for a response. Her campaign wrote back: "Anne Marie Schubert is endorsed by Sacramento County's police, sheriffs, and prosecutors, by all the major crime victim groups, by Mayor Darrell Steinberg and she has near-unanimous support from locally elected officials."

Warren was unavailable to speak with CBS13. Carr said he doesn't plan to make any announcements of his own but will meet with the rest of the council to discuss Warren's announcement.