Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass warned Sunday that rival DSA-backed candidate Nithya Raman could plunge the city into chaos, trigger an exodus of LAPD officers and potentially prompt federal intervention as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Olympics.
With Election Day just two days away, Bass issued the warning after casting her ballot with her adult children and grandson at the Anderson Munger Family YMCA in Koreatown.
Asked by the California Post what Los Angeles might look like after four years under Raman, Bass offered a stark assessment.
“I think four years under Nithya Raman would present a tremendous amount of chaos,” Bass told The Post. “It would be chaos from day one.”
Bass focused on Raman’s pledge to replace LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, arguing that removing the city’s top law-enforcement official could accelerate departures from an already understaffed police department.
“I don’t think she has a clue what it takes to get a police chief for the nation’s second-largest city,” Bass said.
“The minute she would initiate that, you will have officers leaving the department, and confusion sets in anytime they’re gonna sit around and wait to see who is going to lead them.”
Raman has promised to replace McDonnell, citing his handling of protests and federal immigration enforcement, though her timeline for doing so has changed.
Bass also suggested that turmoil within the LAPD could draw unwanted attention from Washington ahead of the Olympic Games.
“I can only imagine Washington looking at that and saying, ‘These people can’t manage it. We need to come in,’” Bass said. “Los Angeles can manage Los Angeles.”
The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents the city’s rank-and-file officers, issued an equally forceful warning about Raman’s campaign Sunday.
MORE STORY: UANI Says Iranian ‘Ghost Fleet’ Filmed Evading US Blockade to China
“Los Angeles will become a Petri dish for every crackpot socialist idea that has failed time and again throughout history,” LAPPL Vice President Sgt. Chris Wecker told The Post.
“It’s anyone’s guess what Ms. Raman actually believes in other than fewer police officers, homeless camps next to schools, daycares and parks and co-governing with the DSA in pursuit of their radical agenda to seize private homes and businesses.”
“Los Angeles has a clear choice to make on Tuesday, let’s pray they don’t choose Loony Tunes,” Wecker added.
The comments echoed Bass’s message from an exclusive interview with The Post on Friday. During that conversation, she outlined plans to rebuild the LAPD to 9,500 officers by the 2028 Olympics and overhaul Los Angeles’ troubled homelessness system.
“I knew the system was broken, but how profoundly broken it was, I did not know,” Bass told The Post.
Bass also criticized Raman’s record on affordable housing, claiming that Raman’s district ranked 14th among the city’s 15 council districts in affordable-housing production.
She contrasted that record with her plan to complete 47,000 housing units already in the development pipeline over the next four years.
Despite the bitter campaign, Bass said she believed the race was beginning to move in her favor.
“I don’t take anything for granted, but I can tell you that I think the undecideds have begun to shift,” she said.
“We’re at a crossroads, and the question is: Do we move forward or do we begin experimenting with our city?”
The Post contacted Raman’s campaign for comment but has not yet received a response.
