On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said that the deployment of the National Guard in Washington, D.C. and federalization of its police force are an attempt to intimidate local officials and the public and “I don’t know what’s going on there, but I imagine that they are not suffering in the despair that he described in his press conference, that, in any way, would warrant the use of federal officials in this manner.”
Host Rachel Maddow asked, “Is that a fair interpretation, that this is essentially an intimidation tactic against, not only local and state officials, but also the public?”
Bass responded, “Well, it absolutely is. But flex, dosing, to me, they’re trying to see how much are we going to tolerate? Will the American public put up with this? Will they put up with that? It’s interesting which mayors and which cities he’s chosen to focus on. In Los Angeles, where you have crime down, a 60-year low in terms of homicides, homelessness is down.”
Bass continued, “He points to homelessness and he points to crime in Washington, D.C. I don’t know what’s going on there, but I imagine that they are not suffering in the despair that he described in his press conference, that, in any way, would warrant the use of federal officials in this manner.”
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