{"id":344483,"date":"2025-10-31T01:42:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T01:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/344483\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T01:42:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T01:42:17","slug":"karen-bass-backs-2-3m-plan-to-clean-up-macarthur-park-months-after-berating-ice-sweep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/344483\/","title":{"rendered":"Karen Bass backs $2.3M plan to clean up MacArthur Park \u2014 months after berating ICE sweep"},"content":{"rendered":"

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass greenlighted a multi-million dollar project to clean up the city\u2019s drug-filled MacArthur Park \u2014 mere months after the Democrat berated immigration officers<\/a> who tried to do the same thing in the troubled greenspace.<\/p>\n

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 \u201congoing public safety and quality of life challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Federal agents on horseback at MacArthur Park on July 7, 2025. AP<\/p>\n

Bass backed the plan \u2014 unanimously passed by the LA Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners on Oct. 16, the LA Public Press reported<\/a> \u2014 which comes more than a year after she began talking about cleaning up MacArthur Park when complaints from neighboring businesses and residents became overwhelming.<\/p>\n

It also comes just months after Bass marched to the park in July to confront federal immigration officers sweeping the grounds on foot and horseback, in what agents said was intended to be a show of force against drug dealers and other nefarious elements who had set up shop in the park.<\/p>\n

The mayor ordered the officers to leave, calling their presence a \u201csiege\u201d that was terrifying local kids \u2014 which some critics called a rich dose of hypocrisy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis pisses me off. She is scared for the kid\u2019s safety \u2026 due to immigration officials at the park, but never scared for their safety when the park is filled with homeless, drugs, MS-13 and violence,\u201d one federal agent told The Post at the time.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told Border Patrol agents in MacArthur Park that they were trying to \u201cspread fear\u201d when they descended on the greenspace on July 7, 2025. AP<\/p>\n

\u201cMake it make sense,\u201d they added, while others pointed out that MacArthur Park is known across the city as being a den of homelessness, drug dealing, gang activity, and all sorts of criminal<\/a> elements.<\/p>\n

Bass acknowledged a year earlier that gang members<\/a> operating out of the park appeared to be extorting neighboring business owners, and said something needed to be done to clean things up.<\/p>\n

But when immigration officers tried to do just that while conducting operations against LA gang members in July, Bass tried to stop them and later accused them of trying to \u201cspread fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Homeless men sleep on a sidewalk in MacArthur Park, where city officials plan to install a wrought iron fence to close the park to visitors at night due to \u201congoing public safety and quality of life challenges.\u201d
Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s outrageous and un-American to have armed vehicles in our American parks,\u201d she told reporters in the park after the officers left, also calling the operation a \u201cpolitical stunt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bass also expressed outrage that both a children\u2019s summer camp and a health group conducting check-ups on homeless people in the park were forced to flee from the immigration officers.<\/p>\n

Bass\u2019 office told the LA Public Press the fencing project would address \u201clongstanding public safety issues at MacArthur Park\u201d by helping people dealing with addiction and homelessness find help.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese challenges have impacted quality of life for residents and their ability to utilize the park safely,\u201d the mayor\u2019s office added. <\/p>\n

\u201cA decorative fence around the perimeter of MacArthur Park is a positive step that could help the City secure the park after hours and prevent vandalism and the destruction of park amenities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass greenlighted a multi-million dollar project to clean up the city\u2019s drug-filled MacArthur Park…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":344484,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,4219,12784,5410,5413,2961,224,5337,1154],"class_list":{"0":"post-344483","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-crime","11":"tag-gangs","12":"tag-ice","13":"tag-karen-bass","14":"tag-la","15":"tag-los-angeles","16":"tag-losangeles","17":"tag-us-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115466242850588944","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}