Karen Bass, the Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, is navigating a series of escalating crises as the Trump administration intensifies immigration raids and deploys National Guard troops and Marines to the city. The 71-year-old former community organizer, who became LA's first Black female mayor in December 2022, has won praise for her forceful denunciation of the raids, describing immigrants as central to the city's identity.
Bass's political career was forged during the 1992 LA uprising, which left more than 50 people dead, and she has drawn on that experience to reject comparisons between recent protests and the riots. 'There is zero comparison,' she said, noting that she was at the epicentre of the 1992 unrest as a Black community leader in South Central Los Angeles.
Bass has accused the Trump administration of an 'outright lie' in characterising Los Angeles as a war zone, and said 'this is chaos that was started in Washington DC.' Progressive council member Eunisses Hernandez praised Bass's leadership, stating, 'All of our leaders are navigating unprecedented waters.'
However, Bass's tenure has not been without criticism. In January, she faced backlash for travelling to Ghana during a period of high wildfire risk, and a May poll found that half of the city's voters viewed her unfavourably. The challenges continue, with at least 2,000 National Guard members and hundreds of Marines still stationed in downtown Los Angeles, and a legal battle over the legality of the deployment ongoing.
Roland Palencia, a longtime local activist, described the situation as an attempt to 'strangle the city: economically, politically, every which way.' Bass has called for the city not to be used as an experiment, warning that the tactics being tested in Los Angeles may be replicated elsewhere.
