LOS ANGELES – Today, George Gascón released the following statement in response to actions at the Hall of Justice:
“The killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis has struck a deep chord of familiarity and pain for Angelenos. These feelings and these protests would not be as raw, nor as widespread, had multiple instances of criminal conduct by police–captured on video–been met with swift condemnation, arrest, and accountability. From Brendon Glenn, to Marlene Pinnock, Kenneth Ross Jr. to the recent assault in Boyle Heights, and so many others, our District Attorney has failed to condemn criminal behavior by police, let alone charge the officers involved. She has espoused a broader standard for when police may use force than is legally permissible under the law, thereby authorizing force to be used more often without criminal consequences. It’s also essential, as always, that the public follows the money: Police unions are spending millions to keep their advocate in office, and they’re doing so in order to ensure she keeps looking the other way.
27 years ago Los Angeles erupted after the officers who beat Rodney King were found not guilty. There was no justice in 1992, but a generation later justice for victims of police brutality continues to be elusive. The unrest then, like now, is what happens when leaders fail to lead. The vacuum of leadership and absence of equal justice has left Angelenos reeling, unheard, and clamoring for change.”
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George Gascón grew up in Los Angeles after his family immigrated from Cuba. An army veteran, Gascón served as a Los Angeles Police Department Officer for 30 years, rising to the rank of Assistant Chief of Operations. In 2006 he became Chief of Police in Mesa, Arizona, where he stood up to the hateful and anti-immigrant policies of then Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. In 2009, then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed Gascón Chief of Police. Newsom turned to Gascón again in 2011 when he tapped him to be District Attorney to fill the seat vacated by an outgoing Kamala Harris who had been elected Attorney General. During his tenure Gascón implemented reforms that are being duplicated across the country while overseeing violent crime and homicides drop to rates not seen in 50 years. After being elected to two terms, Gascón returned to Los Angeles to care for his elderly mother and to be closer to his two daughters and grandchildren in Long Beach. Gascón is married to Fabiola Kramsky, a three-time Emmy Award winning journalist and recipient of the “Premio Nacional de Periodismo,” the highest recognition given to journalists in Mexico.