SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento County has a new District Attorney, and he's the first Asian American to hold this office in Sacramento County history.
Thien Ho was sworn in Tuesday at the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria downtown in Sacramento with family, friends, colleagues and the community to support him.
Before he was elected, Ho was a prosecutor for 20 years and was the Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney for Sacramento County.
Ho is best known for being the lead prosecutor in the Golden State Killer Case and is ready to continue working with the community.
"What I'm excited about is working with community-based organizations and working with our law enforcement partners to deal with gun violence, especially with juveniles with intervention and prevention, but also in trying to tackle the homeless crisis in a cohesive way that balances, on the one hand, compassion and, the other, accountability when it comes to drug abuse and mental health," said Ho.
Ho is an immigrant, and in 1976, he and his family fled from South Vietnam in a small fishing boat. They also lived in a refugee camp in Malaysia for several months before moving to San Jose where Ho was set to progress in his education.
Ho graduated from UC Davis in 1995 with a degree in political science and then went to McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento.
Since 2004, Ho has been serving the people as a prosecutor and is now Sacramento County's District Attorney. He has now taken over the position from Anne Marie Schubert, who left the post to run against Rob Bonta for State Attorney General.
Ho mentioned he is aware of how his swearing-in is important and historically significant.
"Out of 2,400 elected District Attorneys, I will only be the current District Attorney in the entire country that is of Asian or Asian Pacific Islander descent," said Ho.
To Ho, this is the result of his American Dream.