“Don’t Tread on Us” P11 COURT NEWS Man who Fired Gunshot During Protest Outside Mayor’s Home to be Sentenced

Lonnie James Crawford (courtesy image)

MAN WHO FIRED GUNSHOT DURING PROTEST OUTSIDE MAYOR’S HOME

TO BE SENTENCED

By Neal Putnam

Aneighbor of Mayor Todd Gloria who fired a single gunshot during a protest outside Gloria’s home has pleaded guilty to a felony charge of discharging a firearm in a grossly negligent manner.

Lonnie James Crawford, 38, will be sentenced July 6 in San Diego Superior Court. He remains free on $100,000 bond.

Court records say he is likely to get up to six months in custody in a work furlough center as Crawford has filled out an application to qualify in the work furlough program.

This means he would be able to go to work during the day and go to the furlough center at night and on weekends. The center may be a locked facility.

Judge Polly Shamoon took his guilty plea on May 31. If Crawford doesn’t qualify for the center, he would face up to 180 days in jail.

A charge of possession of a drug while armed was dismissed after he pleaded guilty to the other charge.

The incident occurred Aug. 30, 2021, while people were picketing outside Gloria’s apartment building in Mission Hills about homelessness. Protesters said police were too tough with the homeless and they wanted to send a message to the mayor.

No one was injured by the shot as Crawford apparently fired it in the air. But he drove his truck through the crowd too close to protesters, some said. No charges were filed about his driving.

Gloria issued a statement after the protest saying whoever fired the gun was not associated with the protest. He said he was glad the police arrested someone who fired a gun.

Gloria noted the constitutional right to peacefully assemble and protest without fear of being attacked.

The case illustrates a problem with picketing public officials at their homes. There are other surrounding people affected and you cannot control what other people will do or how they will react.

This protest will be remembered for what else happened.

Big Mike & Friends: DJ Taj continued from Page 12

DJ Taj (courtesy image)

Loving yourself is so important to becoming the best of who you are. Please write a couple sentences to describe your loving self and how you want to live your best life?

I never truly got the saying “If you don’t love yourself, no one else will” until just recently. You truly, truly must advocate for your own happiness in life. You can’t expect nor rely on anyone else to provide that love and happiness for you! The only way you can truly set yourself up for success in life is if you take control of your destiny and provide that self-love that we all so desperately need and require. Because if you truly have self-love, you will never allow yourself to do anything that would harm you or willingly lead yourself down a dead-end path that could put you and your future in harm’s way. So, I am choosing to love myself to ensure my survival in this crazy thing that we call life that can be full of pitfalls and setbacks - One’s that can potentially lead you down that wrong road if you don’t protect yourself with the strengthening & healing shield of self-love!

Gratitude is so important in each of our lives, what are you most grateful for, and how do you pay it forward?

I don’t mean to keep harping on this last year, and I wouldn’t say I’m grateful for it... I wouldn’t wish what happened to me and what followed on to anyone! What I am grateful for however is that I did manage to find the inner strength to pull myself out of the deepest and darkest depression that I’ve ever experienced - One that almost killed me. I honestly didn’t believe I would survive it, but I did, and I bounced back stronger and better than before. I have a newfound positive perspective on life that I didn’t have before my crash and burn. I’m grateful for all those people in my life that just wouldn’t let me slip through the cracks and didn’t give up or turn their backs on me, no matter how dark I became! Most importantly, I’m grateful that I’m alive and I get to be here another day to try to make this world a better place or maybe even a little bit brighter for someone else that’s going through something similar. How will I pay it forward? I guess by being the best version of myself that I can humanly be! With self-love comes the ability to truly love or care for others... And that’s half the battle in itself. I guess I will pay it forward by sharing my story to those who need to hear it someday and hopefully help them find their inner strength even though they can’t see it in whatever dark road their journey takes them on. I want to be someone else’s little beacon of light. At the end of the day, it will be their decision to walk towards that light but if I can provide any little shred of insight or clarity to lead them in the right direction... Even just one person, then it would give the senseless tragedy I went through meaning or a higher purpose so that it didn’t just randomly happen in vain!

Taj Altaji Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com /djtajofficial

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ROYAL CONFESSION

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