Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has vowed to clear Venice Beach homeless encampments by July 4, rebuking failing liberal leadership policies as "insanity" and creating crime-ridden areas.
"This is year after year of counterproductive and irresponsible decisions from the Board of Supervisors, the mayor of L.A., and the L.A. City Council," Villanueva told "Fox & Friends" on Thursday. "Each and every person played a part in failing to acknowledge the unfolding crisis that keeps getting bigger and bigger. Yet they're still applying the same failed formula year to year and somehow expecting to have a better result. It's insanity."
His appearance comes after a woman pulled a knife near a mayoral candidate in Venice Beach, California.
A homeless woman was arrested after she was alleged to pull a knife just feet away from City Councilman Joe Buscaino on the Venice Boardwalk during his campaign stop, according to police.
The woman pulled the knife as the mayoral candidate was urging a crackdown on homeless tents in parks, beaches, and sidewalks.
Also, recently, a male boardwalk performer in his 70s was seen on video being beating to the ground in Venice Beach.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl and Councilman Mike Bonin have laid out a "welcome mat for the entire nation's homeless," Villanueva told Fox News.
"They handcuffed the LAPD and told them, 'You're not going to enforce anything because we don't want to offend anybody,'" Villanueva said. "The two of those are singularly responsible for the results in Venice.
"[Kuehl] says she's deeply disturbed. Well, I'm deeply disturbed by people dying in the streets, facedown in the gutter. I'm deeply disturbed that Venice is now the destination of choice for homeless throughout the entire nation.
"This detachment from reality and from responsibility is truly frightening because it's an unfolding humanitarian crisis and this community is suffering."
The Los Angeles County Democratic Party called on Vallanueva to resign earlier this week, despite having just reported the biggest drug bust in department's history.
"It's sad, when you think about," Villanueva said. "We've started the largest drug seizure in – I think it's going to be U.S. history when it's all said and done.
"Violent crime out of control, homelessness spiraling out of control. And the best thing they could do is come up with demanding my resignation while I have a D.A. who is not doing his job and endangering the lives of L.A. County residents, and he has their full support and backing."
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón faces a recall effort over his progress police reforms, according to the report.
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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