A senior figure in the Democratic Socialists of America declined to give a direct answer when pressed on how rapists would be pursued and punished if the group’s calls to abolish police and prisons were ever put into practice.
Dr. Frances Gill, a delegate on the organization’s political committee, was questioned by NBC Los Angeles anchor Conan Nolan about what would happen if his daughter were sexually assaulted under a DSA-backed system that seeks to defund law enforcement and ultimately eliminate prisons.
‘If my daughter is assaulted and raped, is there any agency that would seek to find her assailant and bring him to justice?’ Nolan asked.
Gill replied that ‘of course’ a rapist would be held accountable, but then shifted into a broader discussion about the underlying causes of crime. She said she wanted to ‘avoid getting caught in hypotheticals and talk more about the reality,’ without directly explaining what agency or system would handle such a case.
‘We’re spending absolutely outrageous amounts of money on police and policing, and we’re not spending money on things that actually make people safe and feel safe,’ she said.
‘Which is things like actually well-lit streets. The street lights in Los Angeles. Everybody agrees it’s a huge problem.’
Gill appeared to be pointing to Los Angeles’ ongoing streetlight repair backlog, a problem that has left tens of thousands of lights out of service amid widespread copper wire theft.
She also argued that greater investment in substance abuse treatment would help reduce crime, saying public money should be directed toward those services rather than continuing to flow into police departments.
Frances Gill did not provide an answer when pressed about how rapists would be prosecuted under the DSA platform
DSA advocates for defunding the police and investing in community policing (file photo)
Instead of answering the question, Gill told the interviewer: ‘We’re spending absolutely outrageous amounts of money on police and policing, and we’re not spending money on things that actually make people safe and feel safe.’ She is pictured above at a rally
‘We’re not doing anything about the root causes,’ Gill argued.
Nolan then moved on to a question about Michigan Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who is not a DSA member but has a progressive platform.
A clip of Gill’s answer went viral, prompting former mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt to use it to take aim at his rival, Nithya Raman.
‘Nithya Raman’s partner at DSA LA says their goal is to completely abolish police & prisons. When asked what happens if a girl gets raped? Her answer? “I want to talk about street lights,”‘ Pratt wrote.
Raman is also a DSA member but appears to have taken a different stance on policing. She won a runoff primary race in June and will face off against fellow Democrat and incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in the fall.
Raman was hailed as the most progressive of the three candidates and was the first DSA member elected to the City Council.
She had previously campaigned on defunding the police but walked back the stance, telling NBC Los Angeles in February that, if elected, she would maintain the LAPD’s size.
Raman is now campaigning on a three-point public safety plan, including integrating unarmed officers into 911 calls, restoring accountability and investing in prevention.
Gill declined to say whether she supported Raman’s mayoral run during her recent NBC interview.
Gill refused to share whether DSA would be endorsing progressive mayoral candidate Nithya Raman, pictured above
Spencer Pratt, pictured with President Trump, slammed Gill’s response on X, writing, ‘When asked what happens if a girl gets raped? Her answer? “I want to talk about street lights”‘
She clarified that the DSA is still in the process of endorsing a candidate for the general election, adding that it was ‘still possible’ Raman would receive an endorsement.
‘There are a lot of members who are excited about Nithya,’ Gill added. When asked if she was personally excited about Raman, she responded, ‘I’m going to defer to our organizational process.’
DSA’s official political platform on policing is to ‘defund the police by rejecting any expansion to police budgets or scope of enforcement while cutting budgets annually towards zero.’
DSA also advocates for the freedom of all incarcerated people, demilitarizing the police, and investing in community self-governance.
The Daily Mail has reached out to DSA and Raman’s campaign for comment.
