Democratic Rep. Karen Bass, who represents parts of downtown Los Angeles in Congress and is running for mayor, said she no longer feels safe in the city after her home was burglarized on Friday.
In her first on-camera interview since the incident, Bass told Fox 11 Los Angeles that police informed her that two men had been arrested for stealing two firearms from the house.
“I came home one evening to see my house in disarray, and it was very traumatizing,” she told the interviewer at her campaign headquarters.
“I did feel safe until my safety was shattered, like so many Angelenos,” she added.
“My safety was shattered,” she repeated.
However, the Democratic official said her ordeal did not change her policies while running for mayor because she “thought from the beginning that the number one job of the mayor is to make sure that Angelenos are safe.”
“And in many neighborhoods, people don’t feel safe. They would like to see an increased presence of police officers,” she continued.
Bass noted that a long hiring process was a key obstacle to getting more cops onto the streets but said “we need to get officers on the street as fast as possible.”
The only things stolen from Bass’s Baldwin Vista home on Friday were her two personal firearms. Nothing else – cash, electronics or other valuables – were taken, according to Fortune.
The Democrat defended herself from those who were “surprised” she had guns, saying "I had guns for personal safety as do many other people."
“And I think that gun control is extremely important but I have never believed that people, if they wanted to have guns, should not have them," she added.
A spokeswoman for Bass said the guns were registered but that the congresswoman had never sought a permit to carry them.
She also responded to speculation from Rick Caruso, her opponent in the LA mayor’s race, that the guns were not safely secured as required under California law.
“My guns were registered. They were stored properly in a safe box. That’s my response,” she said.
Fox 11 noted that that the LAPD had not confirmed to them that any suspects were in custody.
