Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell publicly criticized mayoral candidate Nithya Raman after a campaign video associated with her campaign appeared to label him a “fascist liar” and depicted his face crossed out with a red X.
“I saw that, and I was disappointed that she would be associated with anything like that,” McDonnell told NBC Los Angeles, responding to the video a day after it was first reported.
The since-deleted video featured Raman alongside left-wing influencer Ed Choi. It opened with the pair saying, “Only you can stop fascist liars,” as images of Mayor Karen Bass appeared on screen, followed by McDonnell’s face marked with a large red X.
In the video, Choi argued that Los Angeles had become “extremely fascist” because Bass had appointed McDonnell as police chief, and asked Raman how she intended to change the city. Raman responded by accusing the LAPD of protecting Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents rather than residents during last year’s unrest, and pledged to remove McDonnell as chief if she is elected mayor.
McDonnell pushed back against the accusation that his department shielded federal immigration agents at the expense of protesters during the violent demonstrations in June 2025, saying 52 of his officers were hurt in the clashes.
“We had 52 officers injured during that period of time. The assaults on officers were like I’ve never seen before, with commercial-grade fireworks being shot directly at them,” McDonnell said.
He said some officers suffered hearing damage and concussions, and described them coming under attack from Molotov cocktails, all-terrain vehicles driven toward them, and vehicles set on fire nearby.
“The officers were amazingly disciplined for what they were facing,” he said.
One LAPD member, speaking to the New York Post, said placing a red X over the chief’s image effectively marked him as a target, calling the video “extremely dangerous.”
Raman’s campaign disputed that the “fascist liars” line was aimed at McDonnell, Bass or LAPD officers at all, saying it referred instead to ICE and the Trump administration.
“The video was then edited by the creator to put Mayor Bass on screen during that moment, but Nithya never used that phrase to describe Mayor Bass, Chief McDonnell or LAPD officers,” the campaign said in a statement.
The dispute marks an escalation in tensions between the LAPD leadership and Raman, a city councilmember running for mayor, as the race intensifies over policing and the department’s handling of last year’s immigration protests.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login