Los Angeles prosecutors declined to charge a well-connected gang interventionist arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder, instead filing charges only against his son for the gang-motivated slaying of a fellow nonprofit worker — a split decision that exposes the protections enjoyed by the publicly funded interventionist class.

Clifford "Skipp" Townsend, 62, runs 2nd Call, a South LA violence-prevention nonprofit that holds nearly $700,000 in city contracts and partnered with the SoFi Stadium project to place formerly incarcerated individuals into jobs. LAPD Robbery Homicide detectives and FBI agents arrested him outside his organization's offices Wednesday, holding him on $2 million bail. By Friday, the DA's office let him walk, citing a lack of evidence. A DA spokesperson declined to answer questions about the decision, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Townsend's son Kody, 18, wasn't so lucky. Prosecutors charged him with one count of murder, conspiracy, and possession of a firearm by a felon, alleging he used an AR-style rifle to gun down 51-year-old Reginald Foreman on Aug. 6. Foreman, a reformed gang member and 2nd Call employee, was removing weeds on a fencing project when the masked shooter chased him and fired a bullet into his chest. Both Kody Townsend and Foreman were members of rival subsets of the Crips street gang, and the DA's office described the killing as "gang motivated." Kody Townsend also allegedly lay in wait and acted to further gang activities. He faces life in prison if convicted. An arrest warrant remains active.

Jeremiah Abdelhameed, 25, who was arrested alongside the elder Townsend, was charged as an accessory after the fact for allegedly helping Kody Townsend avoid capture. He faces up to seven years. Several others arrested with Skipp Townsend — Lenita Sinna Dee Lewis, Shamond "Lil AD" Bennet, and Nichole Aaliyah Smith — saw no announced charges.

The elder Townsend's own gang resume is extensive: 27 years in the Rollin' 20s Bloods, with his first arrest at age 13, according to the New York Post. He co-founded 2nd Call in 2006, billing it as a way to assist "high-risk individuals, proven offenders, ex-felons, parolees, and others who society disregards." The group has brokered gang truces and placed Townsend alongside city leaders and in media appearances for two decades.

Townsend's attorney, Tiffiny Blacknell, said she was "confounded by the LAPD's decision to arrest him" and called him "a leader in violence prevention for more than 20 years." A UCLA gang expert, Jorja Leap, told the LA Times: "Until I know the case against Skipp and I understand it in detail, this in no way bears any resemblance to the man I know." Activist Najee Ali called him "that one person you could rely on."

DA Nathan Hochman struck a different tone: "Gang violence doesn't just claim lives; it robs entire communities of their sense of security and safety."

The DA's office can decline a case for lack of evidence or on the condition that prosecutors will review it after deeper investigation. Blacknell said prosecutors did not explain why they declined to charge her client.

So the man with the city contracts, the political connections, and the $2 million bail walks free. His son, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, faces life behind bars. The LAPD and FBI evidently saw enough to arrest the father on a conspiracy charge. The DA's office disagreed. What evidence connected Skipp Townsend to the alleged conspiracy in the first place — and what made it disappear in 48 hours — is a question the public is unlikely to get answered.