LOS ANGELES – Today, George Gascón called on Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey and City Attorney Mike Feuer to reject all cases presented and to dismiss all cases filed against peaceful protestors for technical violations incurred while exercising their First Amendment rights such as curfew violations, trespassing, blocking a sidewalk or roadway, noise or jaywalking:
“Our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and assembly are fundamental to ensuring we have a government that is accountable, responsive, and for the people by the people. Our collective outrage and pain in the wake of the murder of George Floyd must be expressed, and change must be demanded. Quelling that vital expression is a portrait of oppression and it will not stand. Jackie Lacey and Mike Feuer must immediately reject all cases presented and dismiss all charges filed against peaceful protestors exercising their First Amendment rights.”
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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.