LA TACO interviews DA George Gascón: Here are 8 things we’re learning

LA TACO’s Lexis-Olivier Ray sat down with Los Angeles District Attorney George Gasquefromn at LA TACO Studios the morning after the second attempt to force a recall election failed.

The 68-minute interview is now live on YouTube (and posted below) to watch what Gascfromn called his “most grueling interview yet” in a discussion that covered the deadly car crash in Windsor Hills, the murder of Jacqueline Avant, police shootings by Ryan Twyman and Andrew Gardlocal recall efforts, the media and, of course, his favorite tacos, among many topics.

Here are just a few of the many things we learned while talking to Gaskfromn:

• He’s a fan of LA TACO and tells Ray that he reads a lot of the reporter’s own reporting.
• He sees the expensive and bogus recall effort as part of a broader movement by right-wing activists to deny and/or contest election results across the country. And he doesn’t see the end here.
• After years as a senior police officer and police chief, he believes he has a strong ability to “generally tell the good police from the bad police” and is also aware of the fear caused by the increasingly dangerous environments they work in, such as the results of this fear.
• Gascfromn says he expects his office to decide whether to file charges against the Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy who killed Andres Guardado more than two years ago before the end of this year.
• Gascfromn brought us up to speed on the case of Jermaine Petit, the 39-year-old woman shot by Los Angeles police officers in Leimert Park last month while holding a car part that officers allegedly mistook for a firearm. Following the shooting, LAPD filed weapons charges against Petit. And as of August 16, LAPD had not brought a case to his office.
• It’s “extremely difficult” to hold bad cops accountable and prosecute them under the current complex system, despite ongoing efforts.
• He can put 15-20 tacos al pastor in one sitting (!).

• Although he said it was one of the most grueling Q&As he’s ever sat through, Gaskfromn suggested we do an interview “every 90 days” going forward.

Check out the full video below.