History

Jackie Lacey Holds Press Conference After George Gascon Wins District Attorney Race

Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

Los Angeles, CA–Jackie Lacey held a press conference this morning after her opponent, George Gascon, received over 50% of votes in the Los Angeles District Attorney Race.

“I’m grateful to my prosecutors and my investigators and my support staff, for your dedication and sacrifices that you made for me and for the people of this county. You made our mission statement a reality. You protected the community, through the fair and ethical pursuit of justice,” Lacey said.

Lacey noted that national protest regarding the death of George Floyd, as well as other cases regarding police brutality, played a critical role in highlighting the already growing discontent regarding her role as D.A and her subsequent vote out of office.

As of Thursday, Gascon held 54% of the vote over Lacey’s 46%. Gascon was the former D.A of San Francisco from 2011-2019. 

Gascon left S.F to enter L.A’s District Attorney’s race less than a year ago, after hearing the opposition Lacey was receiving from BLMLA. They have been the most consistent and visible social justice group in L.A demanding accountability for those murdered by police.

The weekly protest BLMLA held in front of Lacey’s office in downtown L.A with the families varied in size, depending on the weekly attention span and temperament of L.A residents.

After the death of George Floyd and national unrest, these protests grew tremendously, allowing BLMLA the necessary support from a broad spectrum of L.A residents.

Who is George Gascon?

Born in Havana, Cuba, Gascon grew up with his family in Los Angeles. He resigned from his role as San Francisco District Attorney Oct. 2019, saying he needed to spend more time caring for his mother and would not seek re-election. Soon after, Gascon entered the race against Lacey for L.A’s District Attorney seat. He is also the former LAPD Assistant Chief of Police, serving almost 30 years with the department.

Read More: Gascon is Always Looking Out for Gascon

Gascon is praised for supporting the redirection of youth offenders in S.F, with the closure of a juvenile hall under his tenure. He also supported ending cash bail and helped to implement strategies for more data driven approaches to policing.

The Los Angeles Sentinel published an op-ed from S.F’s current mayor London Breed, detailing why she opposed Gascon’s run for L.A’s District Attorney seat. She writes that Gascon has a long history of going whichever way the winds blow, saying whatever suits his political purposes, and only looking out for himself (L.A Sentinel).

“A young Black man found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time: a streetfight that resulted in a deadly shooting. I knew the young man from my community center, knew he was not a violent person, and learned he had no part in the shooting.

I reached out to D.A. Gascon, pleading with him not to ruin this young man’s life by treating him like one of the shooters. But Gascon wasn’t interested.

Eventually, the charges against the young man were dismissed, but not before his life was totally derailed. Gascon, who now portrays himself as a flagbearer for the Black Lives Matter movement, wasn’t willing to lift a finger for that young man’s Black life,” (L.A Sentinel).

Read More: George Gascon For Los Angeles City Council

Only time will tell if Gascon will bring real policing reform to L.A. Those who are committed to seeing real change in Los Angeles know that the fight has only started.

It has become a clear reality that as African-Americans, we cannot continue to support people based solely on their skin tone. This general support is due large in part to the ways Black people have historically been denied access in this country.

So, to see Black people in high positions, we feel as though this moves the needle a little further on the progress of Black America.

However, we need to understand that a Black person with a white supremacist mindset is no good to the Black community and is actually a traitor to the progress of the people. Until we reimagine the current structure of our society, anyone on the other side of politics will continue to look suspect, no matter the race. That’s just the game when you live in a society like America.

Everyone is open to being compromised because our system of governance as a whole, has been compromised by corporations and big money in politics.

Hopefully Gascon does not drop the ball.

Video: KTLA 5

Slauson Girl is a South Central native who has a love for journalism, history and all things Hip-Hop. She holds a B.A in Critical Race & Gender Theory & a Minor in Journalism. Follow Me on IG @Slausongirl

Write A Comment

error: Content is protected !!