LOS ANGELES – Today, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders threw his support behind George Gascón to be LA’s next District Attorney. In announcing his support, Senator Sanders said:
“George Gascón is running in a race the LA Times called the most important contest in the country outside of the presidency. Los Angeles is home to the largest criminal justice jurisdiction and jail in the nation. George is facing a two-term “tough on crime” incumbent who has been criticized by Black Lives Matter and the ACLU for failing to hold officers accountable for excessive use of force.”
“Senator Sanders has been ahead of the pack on so many issues,” said former District Attorney and Assistant Chief of the LAPD, George Gascón. “This is a man who stands up for what he believes in and knows to be right. He is a leader, and I am incredibly proud and humbled to have his support.”
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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.