Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

‘Not Brain Surgery’: Outraged LA Resident Says Newsom, Bass Played ‘Russian Roulette’ By Not Preparing For Wildfires

Screenshot/Rumble/Fox News

A Los Angeles-area resident accused California’s “liberal political leadership” of playing “Russian roulette” with people’s lives Thursday, citing a failure to prepare for wildfires.

Several ongoing wildfires have rapidly spread across the Los Angeles area, Pasadena and other localities, destroying thousands of buildings and leaving at least five people dead. Attorney and California resident Brian Claypool told Fox News host Harris Faulkner he felt “heartbroken and outraged” after a press conference by local leaders.

“I have to tell you, after seeing that press conference, I am flat out heartbroken and outraged. We are sick and tired in L.A. County of having liberal political leadership play Russian roulette with all of our lives,” Claypool said. “Look at that. Look at these images. This was preventable, Harris, I’m not saying it could have been stopped, but I — I looked on the news three days ago. I have a teenage daughter. You know, I’m a single parent. I’ve got a 9-month old as well with a nanny holed up in a hotel. Three days ago, we see on the news there are winds expected of 80 to 100 miles an hour, Harris. I looked at my teenage daughter and I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ That’s hurricane force — hurricane force winds.”

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The city cut the LAFD’s budget by almost $20 million last year, with the bulk of the cuts hitting the department’s operational supplies. Los Angeles officials have come under fire over the Los Angeles Fire Department’s (LAFD) pursuit of a “racial equity plan” under Chief Kristin Crowley, whose biography touts her as “the first female and LGBTQ Fire Chief” in the agency’s history.

The Los Angeles Fire Department also donated “surplus equipment and gear” to Ukraine in 2022, according to a press release from the department.

“What is our city, what is our county doing to try to help people understand what happens if these winds destroy our — our town and community? There was nobody, nobody on the TV out here in L.A. except [Democratic California Gov.] Gavin Newsom doing his dog and pony show talking about what we’re supposed to do when this happens,” Claypool said. “Nobody had done anything to remove soil and vegetation for the last year. Nobody tested the water pipes. This — this was not brain surgery. It was predicted. These winds were predicted.”

“And don’t believe [Democratic Los Angeles Mayor] Karen Bass when she says that an airplane with water could have saved lives in the Palisades. It’s pipes. It’s proper water. It’s not diverting water for fish in California instead of saving human lives,” Claypool continued. “You want to save human lives? Then do your job and have a — have a plan in place. Harris, there was not an operational plan in place anywhere in L.A. County to help with this.”

I watched my hometown burn yesterday and turn into what felt like a surreal place.

Some people homes have survived, but others lost everything. Normality is not going to be something the city sees for a while imo https://t.co/sQdBaHDEDN

— Hailey Grace Gomez (@haileyggomez) January 9, 2025

President-elect Donald Trump blamed Newsom for the devastation, arguing that the California governor prioritized protecting the delta smelt, a small, three-inch fish, over allowing water to be used by cities and farmers.

Claypool said that Bass, who was in Ghana as part of a delegation when the wildfires broke out, is not the only local official to blame for the devastation.

“And by the way, let’s not just pick on Karen Bass. What about these L.A. County supervisors? They are powerful. Because I’m in L.A. County,” Claypool said. “Those board — those supervisors, Harris, they show up at these press conferences after — after urban carnage, after kids have been murdered in L.A. County, and they try to tell you, ‘Oh, we’re going to do this and that.’ What have they done to prevent it? We’re sick and tired of this.”