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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Sunday that ongoing unrest, which she blamed partly on President Donald Trump’s “federal escalation,” meant that Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers would no longer operate checkpoints to protect homes in the burn zone of the Palisades Fire.
On Saturday, police checkpoints that had protected local properties from looting sine the January 7 fire, were removed, and Pacific Palisades was reopened to non-residents.
The Westside Current, citing the Los Angeles Times, reported that LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell had said the “No Kings” protests that had been planned for Saturday — and which descended into rioting — were a factor:
City officials are preparing for large-scale demonstrations against the Trump administration planned for Saturday, which are expected to draw significant law enforcement resources. McDonnell said the need to reallocate personnel for the protests “was a factor” in the decision, but also described the move as a necessary step forward months after the disaster.
However, in an email to residents, Bass — who has said the rioting will continue as long as federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers continue conducting raids in the city — blamed President Trump for allegedly escalating the violence, impying that he was responsible for her decision to pull police from the Palisades (original emphasis): “Let me be clear: your safety and security are paramount. While we could not predict the federal escalation over the past week or the violence and vandalism that occurred, the security plan outlined above will keep the Pacific Palisades protected.”
Bass has blamed Trump’s “chaotic escalation” for a week, rather than rioters or the refusal of local officials to enforce the law.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
