LOS ANGELES, CA- The definition of tone deaf: having or showing an obtuse insensitivity or lack of perception, particularly in matters of public sentiment, opinion, or taste.
Tone deaf, meet Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. As with several Democrat-run cities, Los Angeles is in the midst of a crime wave, similar to cities like San Francisco, Portland, Chicago, Houston, and New York. For anyone paying attention, the blame for the crime increase is relatively easy to ascertain with soft-on-crime district attorneys, prosecutors, and judges.
However, for Bass, she has found another boogeyman…conservative media.
Last week, Bass held a press conference where she vowed to “get tough” with organized retail theft gangs running roughshod over LA (and surrounding area) businesses. Red State reported that after the presser, Bass took to friendly media…in this case, National Public Radio (NPR) to blame “the press and especially the conservative press that wants to paint…Democratic-run cities as though we are in a crisis of crime” for the “sense of fear” in Los Angeles.
She did not say a word about the criminals.
Bass claimed that residents and visitors to the city are safe and claimed that “crime trends show crime going down.” She then addressed the real reason for crime problems plaguing the city is the short-staffing of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Bass neglected to mention that in 2020, the LAPD budget was slashed by $150 million in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, according to CBS News. That was more than the original proposal to cut $133 million.
That cut came on the heels of the Los Angeles Unified School District cutting its police department budget by $25 million, or 35%.
The mayor also has a short memory.
Just the day before, Bass held a joint press conference with LA County Sheriff Robert Luna, LAPD Assistant Chief Dominic Choi, and suburban LA police chiefs, where it was announced that the agencies were forming a regional task force “focused on organized retail theft.”
That press conference also referenced that people were feeling “unsafe.”
In announcing the task force, Bass said, “What we’ve seen over just the past week in the City of Los Angeles and surrounding regions is unacceptable, which is why today we are here announcing action.
These are not victimless crimes—especially in the case where Angelenos were attacked—through force or fear—as they did their jobs or ran errands. No Angeleno should feel like it’s unsafe to go shopping, and no Angelenos should feel like it’s unsafe to open a business in Los Angeles or Los Angeles County.
This task force will aggressively investigate these incidents and hold individuals that are responsible for these crimes fully accountable.”
Prominent in his absence was LA County District Attorney George Gascon, a George Soros-funded hack who has turned the LA County DA’s office into a revolving door, where criminals are cut loose with no bond, that is, if Gascon doesn’t first drop their charges.
The fact that Gascon was not at the press conference was not lost on the reporters in attendance, one of whom asked Bass where Gascon was. She ducked and weaved faster than Muhammed Ali in his prime.
“Let me just say that the purpose of this press conference was really to announce the formation of the task force. The task force is very large. So we wanted to announce the task force…the task force is very, very large. We didn’t have everyone here from the task force.”
It sounds like Bass gets her public speaking pointers from Kamala Harris.
According to a 2020 KABC-7 report, Gascon announced that his office would no longer prosecute so-called “low-level” crimes, including trespass, disturbing the peace, resisting arrest, drug possession, and other misdemeanors. Gascon’s program also encouraged using “diversion programs” instead of jail.
When Gascon announced the changes, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union representing LAPD officers, predicted precisely what would happen.
“…his plans will do nothing but victimize Los Angeles residents, especially black and Hispanic residents who currently make up 70% of violent crime victims.”
Crime is not only a Los Angeles problem but is a California problem, which was exacerbated by the passing of Prop 47, which in essence, gave a “get out of jail free” card to anyone stealing under $950 worth of merchandise.
Yet Bass chooses to blame conservative media for LA’s maladies.
Criminals are not, in general, stupid. They know that in Los Angeles, where Democrats run the show, crime is an afterthought.
They know George Gascon’s office will not prosecute them and that political hacks like Karen Bass will lay the blame elsewhere. Bass and LA, law enforcement officials, can form all the task forces they want to, but it is pointless if nobody on the other side of the criminal justice fence does their job.
In the NPR interview, Bass claimed that “crime trends are going down.” She further said that “when you have a spectacular-type crime happen like this, it does create a sense of fear. But one of the reasons it does is because it’s exploited by the press and especially the conservative press…”
Bass is partially correct in claiming that some crime rates are going down. However, they’re higher than two years ago and before the pandemic.
Statistics show that while violent and property crimes spiked at the beginning of 2022, the slight decline in 2023 violent crime brings it down to the level it was at in 2021. Property crime, however, remains significantly higher than in 2021.
And it appears that LA residents, including those who voted for Gascon, are not buying it. “We are f-ing terrified because these start as low-level crimes, but it has gradually exploded," said one resident. "These criminals are not getting prosecuted, and they know it. It’s off the rails.”
Some crimes get much publicity on social media, especially the flash mobs that rampage in retail outlets.
However, some random violent crimes in areas deemed safe sometimes go under the radar, such as a recent case where a man walking his dog on the Santa Monica Boardwalk was stabbed to death by a homeless man in broad daylight.
Mayor Bass can blather on about “conservative media”; however, many mainstream Los Angeles media sources…ABC, NBC, and Fox LA…have all been calling out the out-of-control crime in the city. She can bury her head in the sand and pretend this isn’t happening, or she can LEAD and do something about it.
Tone deaf, meet Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. As with several Democrat-run cities, Los Angeles is in the midst of a crime wave, similar to cities like San Francisco, Portland, Chicago, Houston, and New York. For anyone paying attention, the blame for the crime increase is relatively easy to ascertain with soft-on-crime district attorneys, prosecutors, and judges.
However, for Bass, she has found another boogeyman…conservative media.
Last week, Bass held a press conference where she vowed to “get tough” with organized retail theft gangs running roughshod over LA (and surrounding area) businesses. Red State reported that after the presser, Bass took to friendly media…in this case, National Public Radio (NPR) to blame “the press and especially the conservative press that wants to paint…Democratic-run cities as though we are in a crisis of crime” for the “sense of fear” in Los Angeles.
She did not say a word about the criminals.
Bass claimed that residents and visitors to the city are safe and claimed that “crime trends show crime going down.” She then addressed the real reason for crime problems plaguing the city is the short-staffing of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Bass neglected to mention that in 2020, the LAPD budget was slashed by $150 million in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, according to CBS News. That was more than the original proposal to cut $133 million.
That cut came on the heels of the Los Angeles Unified School District cutting its police department budget by $25 million, or 35%.
The mayor also has a short memory.
Just the day before, Bass held a joint press conference with LA County Sheriff Robert Luna, LAPD Assistant Chief Dominic Choi, and suburban LA police chiefs, where it was announced that the agencies were forming a regional task force “focused on organized retail theft.”
That press conference also referenced that people were feeling “unsafe.”
In announcing the task force, Bass said, “What we’ve seen over just the past week in the City of Los Angeles and surrounding regions is unacceptable, which is why today we are here announcing action.
These are not victimless crimes—especially in the case where Angelenos were attacked—through force or fear—as they did their jobs or ran errands. No Angeleno should feel like it’s unsafe to go shopping, and no Angelenos should feel like it’s unsafe to open a business in Los Angeles or Los Angeles County.
This task force will aggressively investigate these incidents and hold individuals that are responsible for these crimes fully accountable.”
Prominent in his absence was LA County District Attorney George Gascon, a George Soros-funded hack who has turned the LA County DA’s office into a revolving door, where criminals are cut loose with no bond, that is, if Gascon doesn’t first drop their charges.
The fact that Gascon was not at the press conference was not lost on the reporters in attendance, one of whom asked Bass where Gascon was. She ducked and weaved faster than Muhammed Ali in his prime.
“Let me just say that the purpose of this press conference was really to announce the formation of the task force. The task force is very large. So we wanted to announce the task force…the task force is very, very large. We didn’t have everyone here from the task force.”
It sounds like Bass gets her public speaking pointers from Kamala Harris.
According to a 2020 KABC-7 report, Gascon announced that his office would no longer prosecute so-called “low-level” crimes, including trespass, disturbing the peace, resisting arrest, drug possession, and other misdemeanors. Gascon’s program also encouraged using “diversion programs” instead of jail.
When Gascon announced the changes, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union representing LAPD officers, predicted precisely what would happen.
“…his plans will do nothing but victimize Los Angeles residents, especially black and Hispanic residents who currently make up 70% of violent crime victims.”
Crime is not only a Los Angeles problem but is a California problem, which was exacerbated by the passing of Prop 47, which in essence, gave a “get out of jail free” card to anyone stealing under $950 worth of merchandise.
Yet Bass chooses to blame conservative media for LA’s maladies.
Criminals are not, in general, stupid. They know that in Los Angeles, where Democrats run the show, crime is an afterthought.
They know George Gascon’s office will not prosecute them and that political hacks like Karen Bass will lay the blame elsewhere. Bass and LA, law enforcement officials, can form all the task forces they want to, but it is pointless if nobody on the other side of the criminal justice fence does their job.
In the NPR interview, Bass claimed that “crime trends are going down.” She further said that “when you have a spectacular-type crime happen like this, it does create a sense of fear. But one of the reasons it does is because it’s exploited by the press and especially the conservative press…”
Bass is partially correct in claiming that some crime rates are going down. However, they’re higher than two years ago and before the pandemic.
Statistics show that while violent and property crimes spiked at the beginning of 2022, the slight decline in 2023 violent crime brings it down to the level it was at in 2021. Property crime, however, remains significantly higher than in 2021.
And it appears that LA residents, including those who voted for Gascon, are not buying it. “We are f-ing terrified because these start as low-level crimes, but it has gradually exploded," said one resident. "These criminals are not getting prosecuted, and they know it. It’s off the rails.”
Some crimes get much publicity on social media, especially the flash mobs that rampage in retail outlets.
However, some random violent crimes in areas deemed safe sometimes go under the radar, such as a recent case where a man walking his dog on the Santa Monica Boardwalk was stabbed to death by a homeless man in broad daylight.
Mayor Bass can blather on about “conservative media”; however, many mainstream Los Angeles media sources…ABC, NBC, and Fox LA…have all been calling out the out-of-control crime in the city. She can bury her head in the sand and pretend this isn’t happening, or she can LEAD and do something about it.
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