Black newspaper publisher prints lies on former Compton mayor; receives loan forgiveness from current one

On June 1st the LA Sentinel exposed themselves.  Owner/publisher Danny Bakewell owed the city of Compton millions of dollars that he refused to pay.  Since then, he has continued to tout the re-election of the members of the dais, who absolved him of his debt.  The June 1st article included a lie on the former mayor of Compton, Omar Bradley, which prompted a phone call from the publisher to Mr. Bradley, with the understanding the article would be pulled and a retraction for the lies he published would take its place.  

Danny Bakewell kept his word but many wonder why he would print such lies in the first place.  Oh, on July 15, 2014, Mayor Aja Brown and council members Isaac Galvan and Janna Zurita, under authority of the Successor Agency/ LA County, voted to forgive $3.5 million dollars he owed the city.  These are the same three prominently featured on covers of both Bakewell owned publications:  the Sentinel and LA Watts Times.

In the June 1, 2017 Edition of The Los Angeles Sentinel we featured an Editorial story titled “Why Mayor Aja Brown Deserves Our Vote”.  In this editorial the writer made certain allegations about the Mayors opponent Fmr. Compton Mayor Omar Bradley and his family that were factually incorrect and did not meet the Sentinels historical standard of excellence and was just simply wrong. 

The truth is Omar Bradley nor any of his family members were ever charged with any crimes related to the solid waste scandal and trying to link Mr. Bradley or any of his family members to this crime is just unfair and should have never been a part of our story.

Furthermore, we want to make a special apology to the entire Compton City Council who have all worked tirelessly to serve the City and its Residents.  Yes, the Los Angeles Sentinel does support Mayor Aja Brown, but we also endorsed and continue to support Councilwoman Tana McCoy, Councilman Isaac Galvan, Councilwoman Janna Zurita and Councilwoman Emma Shariff in their positions as elected officials and we have no reason to waiver on our support in any way.

The Sentinel wants to acknowledge that while Former Mayor Omar Bradley has had his challenges, for many years he was a fine and dedicated public servant.

The Sentinel does not authorize, the re-print or distribution of the inaccurate information in the June 1, 2017 editorial in any form .  See the Los Angeles Sentinel next week (6/8/2017) for more information and updates.