Three candidates for Boston’s top prosecutor faced off in a tense forum Thursday in Roxbury.
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden, former Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins and former Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Linda Champion made their cases to voters ahead of the Democratic primary.
Rollins was elected to the position in 2018 and held it until 2022, when she became U.S. attorney for Massachusetts under then-President Joe Biden. She resigned the following year after reports from watchdogs, including the Department of Justice’s inspector general, outlined a litany of misconduct allegations against her.
Among the allegations was that Rollins leaked information aiming to sabotage Hayden, then acting district attorney, in his campaign to succeed her, favoring his competitor, then-Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo.
“You only know Kevin because I left to become your U.S. attorney,” Rollins said Thursday.
“This person left her job, and now she wants it back, cause nothing else worked out for her, and it didn’t work out for her because of her lack of ethics and integrity,” Hayden fired back.
Champion, a former assistant district attorney in Suffolk County who ran unsuccessfully against Rollins in 2018 and later served as a legal counsel under Hayden, criticized both candidates who have led the office.
“I don’t care who has held the seat, there has been no change,” Champion said.
Rollins pointed to crime in the city since her time in office.
“In Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, we’ve seen an uptick in shootings and homicides,” she told NBC10 Boston in an interview.
“The number of people shot and not killed in the city of Boston, last year, was at an all-time recorded low of 103,” Hayden told the station.
“All they’re talking about and doing is personal attacks on each other,” Champion said. “It’s about making sure every child in our community has safe streets and safe neighborhoods.”
While Hayden highlighted lower crime rates, Rollins said he had lost progress made under her leadership, saying people with multiple open gun cases are getting arrested again.
Champion said it’s time for a new face altogether.
“I think we deserve more than people who want to weaponize the legal system,” she said. “Let’s go in a new direction.”
The candidates also addressed bodycam footage in the deadly shooting of Stephenson King by Boston Police Officer Nicholas O’Malley, who has been charged with manslaughter. A civil rights group has sued the police department and district attorney’s office for the footage, which Hayden has said will not be released.
Hayden stood by that decision, while Rollins and Champion said it should be made public.
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