Interview by Lexis-Olivier Ray
Published August 31, 2022 6:00am PST

This article was produced by LA TACO, which is an award-winning publication that reports from Los Angeles on food and touches on the deeper elements around food such as social justice, representation, and immigration. The Pomonan is co-publishing this article.

L.A. TACO’s Lexis-Olivier Ray sat down for a conversation with Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón at L.A. TACO Studios the morning after a second attempt to force him into a recall election failed.

The 68-minute interview is now live on YouTube (and posted below) for you to watch what Gascón called his “most grueling interview yet” in a discussion that spans the deadly Windsor Hills car crash, the murder of Jacqueline Avant, the police shootings of Ryan Twyman and Andres Guardado, local recall efforts, the media, and, naturally, his favorite tacos, among many subjects.

Here are a just few of the many things we learned while speaking with Gascón:

• He’s an L.A. TACO fan, telling Ray he reads a lot of the journalist’s own coverage.

• He sees the costly and mendacious recall attempt as part of right-wing activists’ broader movement to deny and/or election results across the country. And doesn’t see it ending here.

• After years as a high-ranking police officer and chief-of-police, he believes he has a strong ability to “generally tell good police from bad police” and also recognizes the fear caused by increasingly dangerous environments they’re working in, as well as the results of that fear.

• Gascón says he expects his office will decide whether or not to charge the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputies that killed Andres Guardado, more than two years ago, before the end of this year.

• Gascón updated us on the case of Jermaine Petit case, the 39-year-old shot by LAPD officers in Leimert Park last month while holding an auto part that officers allegedly confused for a firearm. After the shooting, LAPD pursued weapons charges against Petit. And as of August 16, LAPD hadn’t presented a case to his office.

• “It’s extremely difficult” to hold bad cops accountable and prosecute them within the current complex system despite ongoing efforts.

• He can put down 15-20 tacos al pastor in one sitting (!).

• Despite saying this was one of the most grueling Q & A’s he’s ever sat for, Gascón suggested we do an interview “every 90 days” going forward.

Lexis-Olivier Ray, is a staff investigative reporter on housing, justice and culture for L.A. TACO.

L.A. TACO is a platform for the city of Los Angeles. We are a source of news and information covering food, culture, and community in the metropolitan area. We are independently owned and operated, by L.A. and for L.A. In our mission, we aim to bring raw and street-level journalism from all corners of L.A. county to our loyal readers, supporters, and members, and partners who share our passion for Los Angeles.