This clip is from MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show last night (June 9, 2025). My favorite three quotes are below, but there are many more. You have to hear the entire clip!
Mayor Bass: “We do not have any problems with violence taking place in our city right now.”
Mayor Bass: “Let me just say, Rachel, that on Thursday of last week, Los Angeles was peaceful. There were no problems here. There was nothing happening in our city that warranted raids that took place the next day that terrified and terrorized the city. People go to work and then they have no idea that their workplace is going to be invaded and it as gonna be an enforcement action.”
Mayor Bass: “There was vandalism that took place primarily in the form of graffiti. It was around 120 people. We are a city of 3.8 million. Our police department could take care of that. So what is the reason to bring the National Guard in?”
Mayor Bass, you claim LA was peaceful and the National Guard was unneeded, but protests turned violent—cars burned, businesses looted, and protesters attacked federal agents with rocks and concrete. Over 150 arrests were made, with the LAPD overwhelmed, issuing tactical alerts. Your claim of “primarily graffiti” ignores the chaos: blocked freeways, torched Waymo cars, and injured officers. The feds stepped in because local control failed to stop the escalating riots, not to use LA as a political “test case” for federal overreach.