Clifford Skipp Townsend Avoids Charges After LAPD and FBI Arrest in South L.a. Gang Investigation

Clifford Skipp Townsend Avoids Charges After LAPD and FBI Arrest in South L.a. Gang Investigation

Obviously, we are pleased that charges were not filed in this case, but we remain confounded by the LAPD’s decision to arrest him, defense attorney Tiffiny Blacknell said after prosecutors declined to file charges against prominent South Los Angeles anti-gang worker Clifford Skipp Townsend.

Prosecutors decided against filing charges on Friday afternoon, just days after 62-year-old Townsend was taken into custody on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder by Los Angeles Police Department detectives and federal agents. While the executive director of the violence prevention group 2nd Call was spared from prosecution, authorities announced that his 19-year-old son now faces a murder charge in connection with an August slaying.

The Murder Case Against Kody Townsend and Jeremiah Abdelhameed

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed one count of murder against Kody Townsend on Friday afternoon. Prosecutors alleged that the younger Townsend used an assault rifle to gun down 51-year-old Reginald Foreman in August. Authorities stated that both men belonged to rival factions of the Crips street gang, describing the fatal shooting as gang-motivated. As of Friday afternoon, Kody Townsend had not yet been arrested.

Investigators also took action against others connected to the organization. Jeremiah Abdelhameed, 25, was charged as an accessory after the fact in Foreman’s death. Abdelhameed was among several individuals arrested alongside the elder Townsend on Wednesday when detectives from the LAPD’s Robbery Homicide Division and federal agents descended on the 2nd Call offices located at La Brea Avenue and Obama Boulevard, seizing several computers.

Foreman, known as Big Ant or BA, was working with a 2nd Call team to clean up a stretch of Crenshaw Boulevard in Hyde Park when he was killed. Witnesses reported that a youth in a medical face mask approached Foreman and Shamond Bennett at a vacant lot near Crenshaw Boulevard and 60th Street before opening fire. Foreman fled, but the gunman pursued him and fired into his chest at point-blank range. Bennett escaped the encounter without injuries.

Community Fallout and the Future of Gang Intervention Work

The sudden raid and subsequent arrest of Skipp Townsend deeply shocked Los Angeles communities where 2nd Call has operated since its founding in 2006. Townsend, a former member of the Rollin’ 20s Bloods who spent time in prison, built a reputation as a mediator capable of crossing deep neighborhood divides to broker peace between rival gangs.

Sean Garcia-Leys, executive director of the Peace & Justice Law Center, said the arrest and quick rejection of charges against the elder Townsend could hurt LAPD’s ability to collaborate with community members who legitimately can impact gang violence. People who have been systematically impacted, been arrested and are trying to leave all of those problems behind, this can have a chilling effect on them becoming intervention workers, Garcia-Leys said.

Four others were arrested alongside the elder Townsend on Wednesday: Lenita Sinna Dee Lewis, 28; Shamond Lil AD Bennett, 49; Nichole Aaliyah Smith, 23; and Abdelhameed. Prosecutors ultimately declined to file charges against Lewis, Bennett, and Smith, mirroring the decision regarding Skipp Townsend.

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