Crime-Plagued Park Karen Bass Defended From ICE on Tap for Bass-Approved Security Overhaul

Crime-Plagued Park Karen Bass Defended From ICE on Tap for Bass-Approved Security Overhaul

Democrats inevitably will tell on themselves in one way or another, and that is exactly what Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) did in October regarding an L.A. park that was the scene of a large-scale immigration enforcement sweep in July.

As Legal Insurrection reported at the time, a joint federal operation was conducted in the MacArthur Park section of Los Angeles in an area known to have a significant MS-13 presence.

Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin posted photos and a brief summary of what was going on that day:

Mayor Bass has demanded raids stop, Feds respond with one of the largest yet, including Border Patrol agents on horseback. Protesters already showing up.

BREAKING: We are with hundreds of federal agents and military as a massive federal immigration enforcement operation is underway in the MacArthur Park area of the sanctuary city of Los Angeles, an area with heavy MS-13 influence. Mayor Bass has demanded raids stop, Feds respond… pic.twitter.com/g4osPOL6mr

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) July 7, 2025

Bass, in turn, pitched a fit upon hearing the news, rushing to the park soon after and demanding to speak to whoever was in charge to try and put a halt to their operation, which was joined by ICE, CBP agents, and the California National Guard.

The mayor took to the X machine to claim that children were allegedly playing in the park when the feds arrived on the scene:

This is footage from today in MacArthur Park.

Minutes before, there were more than 20 kids playing — then, the MILITARY comes through.

The SECOND I heard about this, I went to the park to speak to the person in charge to tell them it needed to end NOW.

Absolutely outrageous. pic.twitter.com/sxGzjGlYlr

— Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) July 7, 2025

Though LA residents and independent journalists who’ve covered immigration sweeps and were familiar with the area cast doubt on Bass’s claim by noting MacArthur Park was not exactly known for being family/kid-friendly, she pressed on, telling the media that there was “nothing going on” in the park that warranted that type of response:

“Frankly, it is outrageous and un-American that we have federal armed vehicles in our parks when nothing is going on in the parks,” she said.

Bass said that when federal agents arrived, a children’s summer camp was taking place at the park.

“I went and I spoke to an 8-year-old [who told] me that he was afraid of ICE taking his parents, and he didn’t think it was good to take people away,” Bass said, while slamming the podium with her fist.

And Bass wasn’t the only one. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) also chimed in, tweeting:

MacArthur Park is not a war zone. It is a playground, a picnic spot, a community spot. But you wouldn’t know that looking at it now. Why send armed agents to terrorize a community?

It was an image that was completely at odds with reality:

“It is a playground, a picnic spot, a community spot” – Eric Swalwell, telling us he’s never been to MacArthur Park without telling us he’s never been to MacArthur Parkpic.twitter.com/SgSq1MgdIZ https://t.co/luV6Lo0oAY

— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) July 8, 2025

Fast forward three months, and Bass has now given her blessing on a public safety-centered plan for the crime and drug-plagued MacArthur Park that will include putting a fence around the perimeter so the park can be shut down nightly for cleanups:

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass greenlighted a multi-million dollar project to clean up the city’s drug-filled MacArthur Park — mere months after the Democrat berated immigration officers who tried to do the same thing in the troubled greenspace.

The city just approved a $2.3 million plan to build a wrought iron fence around the park, which the project proposal says suffers from “ongoing public safety and quality of life challenges.”

Those challenges include the second-highest overdose deaths in the city behind the infamous Skid Row drug den, according to the LA Department of Health Services Harm Reduction, which the new fencing would address by allowing the park to close and clear out nightly so the grounds can be maintained.

In their write-up about the plan in mid-October, the LA Public Press shared that it was put in place due to safety and hygiene concerns from nearby residents and businesses:

The Los Angeles Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners, citing “public safety” and “quality-of-life challenges,” unanimously approved the $2.3 million proposal on Oct. 16 (commission President Renata Simril was not present at the meeting). The project has the support of LA Mayor Karen Bass and LA City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who both cited community concerns over safety at the park as the driving force for the project.

The fence will allow “long-delayed maintenance, beautification and restoration work to take place safely overnight during hours when the park is closed, while keeping it accessible for the public during the day,” according to Naomi Roochnik, communications director for Hernandez. Roochnik, who said her office has been inundated with emails from neighborhood business owners and residents complaining about safety and hygiene issues at the park.

A few months ago Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass said MacArthur Park was full of frolicking children chased out by President Trump’s masked military.

Now apparently there is some sort of homeless and drug addict issue in the park that requires a costly fence pic.twitter.com/duZftW1BON

— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) October 31, 2025

Thankfully, it didn’t take a visit from the dictator of a communist country to get L.A. to take action to try to protect the community. It just took President Trump to once again embarrass them on a national stage.

– Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via X. –

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