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A Los Angeles City Council member who served as a regional field organizer for former President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign has allegedly called the police at least eight times since April, despite being a staunch “defund the police” advocate.
News of councilman Mike Bonin’s apparent hypocrisy emerged in part because of station KTTV reporter Bill Melugin, who on Friday took to Twitter to highlight a City of Los Angeles records request that had been filed by someone else.
Look:
A public records request reveals that LA city councilman Mike Bonin, who voted to defund LAPD by $150 million, has called LAPD to his home 8 times since 4/4/20, including to provide extra patrols and protection from peaceful protesters at his house. https://t.co/Z6yhJ8XKM4
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) August 8, 2020
***I do not deserve any credit for this*** someone else filed this records request and once it is fulfilled, LAPD posts it publicly and it becomes publicly available info. The request does not say who filed it, but props to whoever did it!
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) August 8, 2020
Filed on July 20th, the request by the unnamed sleuth asked for “copies of” any “information related to calls for service to the residence of District 11 Councilman Mike Bonin.” The city issued a formal reply eight days later, ironically enough.
The public reply cited eight instances of the police being called to Bonin’s home, with at least one of those incidents involving local officers being called to keep “the peace with protestors in front of residence until protestors dispersed.”
These findings are a bombshell because Bonin is among 11 council members who voted in June to cut the Los Angeles Police Department’s budget by $150 million.
“The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to cut hiring at the Police Department, pushing the number of sworn officers well below 10,000 and abandoning a budget priority once seen as untouchable by city leaders,” the Los Angeles Times reported at the time.
“Faced with a grim budget outlook and deluged by demands for reductions in police spending, the council voted 12 to 2 to take the Los Angeles Police Department down to 9,757 officers by next summer — a level of staffing not seen in the city since 2008.”
The Times added that “much” of the $150 would come from “funds earmarked for police overtime pay” …
“I think we owe it to Los Angeles to come up with a better and a smarter way of doing public safety and emergency response, and I think this motion is the first step in doing that. It’s not about random slashing and cuts. It’s about re-prioritizing and … to invest in neighborhood safety, and there’s ways to do that,” Bonin claimed at the time.
He even reportedly proudly stated that he’d been “calling for a reduction in the police budget before George Floyd.”
The hypocrisy seems clear, or does it? Responding to Melugin’s Twitter report, the councilman caught one hell of an attitude and accused the KTTV reporter of intimidation.
Look:
No, Bill, this is as false as the tampon story you broke. I have NEVER asked LAPD for patrols at my house. https://t.co/32ZZbSVTQL
— Mike Bonin (@mikebonin) August 8, 2020
When there have been protesters at my house opposing homeless housing, rent control, Stay at Home orders, and the BLM movement, I specifically asked LAPD NOT to send anyone.
— Mike Bonin (@mikebonin) August 8, 2020
When protests occurred at the homes of other elected officials and LAPD offered to send patrols to my home as a precaution, I specifically asked for no patrols at my home.
— Mike Bonin (@mikebonin) August 8, 2020
Seven of the eight calls you cite were apparently generated by LAPD themselves, sending patrols without my request and often without my knowledge.
— Mike Bonin (@mikebonin) August 8, 2020
The only time LAPD has come at my request was to pick up as evidence the syringes that one of the right-wing protesters left on our doorsteps.
— Mike Bonin (@mikebonin) August 8, 2020
This is a cute tactic to try to silence or intimidate a public official who is standing up to the police union. It ain’t working.
— Mike Bonin (@mikebonin) August 8, 2020
To hear him tell it, the police were automatically called to his home “without” his request and knowledge. But according to Melugin’s sources, that seems unlikely.
“Multiple LAPD sources say they would not generate their own calls for a simple patrol,” he tweeted.
He also included the following screenshot of a text he’d received from a “high-level LAPD source”:
Councilman Bonin denies calling ever LAPD to his home in this thread. https://t.co/BwJKH35ZOd
Multiple LAPD sources say they would not generate their own calls for a simple patrol. High level LAPD source texted me the following in response to Bonin’s claims. https://t.co/Q8I9mwezyl pic.twitter.com/HxozplLoc0— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) August 8, 2020
Who do you believe? Judging by the litany of replies pouring in these past two days, it appears most locals certainly don’t believe Bonin.
In fact, according to additional records cited by his critics, police have been called to his home at least 40 times since 2015.
Look:
The LAPD responded a total of 40 times to your house between 2015 and 2020. That is a fact we can access. Publicly lying will cause the FBI to come knocking. Keep up the lies. It’s great when you do it on a public forum. #scumbag #liar
— V E N I C E 👙 Intel (@VeniceIntel) August 8, 2020
Oh @mikebonin just quit lying and admit you called the police bc you were concerned for your safety even tho you don’t think any of the rest of us normals deserve to do the same. The POLICE THEMSELVES outed you. 🤣
— Carrie (@birdgirlc) August 8, 2020
You got caught bro. The Dershowitz method of deny deny deny only makes you look more guilty.
— Darth Crypto – The Sith Jew (@ToolFree2point0) August 8, 2020
People are not happy because you are putting people at risk by defunding police. You aren’t standing up to any union. We NEED police officers. Why don’t we cut down politicians’ salaries to fund the social programs you want?
— Gabriela López (@gablos78) August 8, 2020
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.
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