George Gascón

George Gascon was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1954 and fled to the United States with his parents on a "freedom flight" to Miami in 1967 at age 13. The family soon settled in Cudahy, a working-class neighborhood in southeast Los Angeles, where young George struggled to learn English and keep up with schoolwork ^[1]. He dropped out of high school but later earned his GED while serving in the U.S. Army, where he became the youngest sergeant in his brigade ^[1].

Gascon went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in History from California State University, Long Beach, and a Juris Doctor from Western State University College of Law. He also completed programs at the FBI National Executive Institute and the Harvard Kennedy School ^[1]. His career in law enforcement began as a patrol officer in the LAPD's Hollywood Division, where he rose through the ranks to become Assistant Chief under Police Chief Bill Bratton, overseeing more than 9,000 officers ^[2].

In 2006, he was appointed Chief of the Mesa, Arizona, Police Department, where he famously clashed with Sheriff Joe Arpaio over immigration enforcement. In 2009, then-Mayor Gavin Newsom tapped him to lead the San Francisco Police Department. Gascon then made history in 2011 by becoming San Francisco's District Attorney — making him the nation's first police chief to become a DA and the first Latino to hold that office ^[1][2].

Elected as the 43rd District Attorney of Los Angeles County in November 2020, Gascon championed progressive criminal justice reforms. In October 2024, he recommended the resentencing of Erik and Lyle Menendez, citing new evidence including a letter and a sworn declaration of abuse ^[3]. He lost his reelection bid to Nathan Hochman in November 2024 ^[4].