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LAPD chief’s cutting takedown of cocktail-loving mayoral candidate Nithya Raman: ‘I was there’

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Cite

Crawford, B. (2026, October 9). LAPD chief’s cutting takedown of cocktail-loving mayoral candidate Nithya Raman: ‘I was there’. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/08/us-news/lapd-chief-blasts-nithya-raman-for-attacking-police-as-cops-faced-lethal-force-at-anti-ice-riots/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-09 · by Barclay Crawford

Quick Summary

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell responded to mayoral candidate Nithya Raman's criticisms of the police department by recounting his personal experiences during protests where 52 officers were assaulted. He defended the use of tear gas, stating it prevented more severe confrontations that could have resulted in fatalities. McDonnell also clarified the LAPD’s policy against collaborating with ICE on immigration enforcement while emphasizing its partnerships with other federal agencies for different types of investigations and operations.
Written by AI on 2026-10-09, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Nithya Raman, a Democratic Socialist and Los Angeles city councilmember running for mayor, faced backlash after posting a now-deleted social media video where she called LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell "a fascist liar" with a red X through his face. The incident occurred during an interview at the Los Angeles Trade-Technical College on Sunday, April 30th.

The Los Angeles Police Protective League, representing rank-and-file LAPD officers, criticized Raman's actions as dangerous and potentially endangering police protection details assigned to city officials like Mayor Karen Bass and Chief McDonnell.

Mayor Karen Bass accused Raman of being "incredibly irresponsible" and not ready for prime time. Chief Jim McDonnell defended his department against allegations that the LAPD helps ICE enforce immigration laws, stating instead they protect federal agents from threats while not participating in immigration enforcement themselves. He also highlighted how 52 officers were injured during violent protests over ICE raids in June 2025.

Critics argue Raman's comments undermine public trust and safety by targeting police leadership as "fascist liars."

Written for “Nithya Raman Controversy LAPD” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 6 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Nithya Raman Controversy LAPD
Politics · 7 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly right and hedges 4% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
LAPD top boss slams Nithya Raman after campaign video brands him ‘fascist liar’ Same event
New York Post
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 0 of 13 claims Outlet record 66/100
Fears for Los Angeles as woke lawmaker who's favorite to be next mayor proudly declares police chief a 'fascist liar' Different event
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 2 of 37 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of an ongoing political and social conflict between Nithya Raman and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, but they do not describe the exact same incident occurring at the same time.”
Influencer behind Nithya Raman’s ‘fascist liars’ video built huge following fueling racially charged firestorms Different event
New York Post
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 2 of 21 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A discusses Ed Choi and his controversial video involving Nithya Raman, while Article B focuses on LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell's response to Raman's criticism of the police department.”
Mamdani would be a fool to fire NYPD Commish Jessica Tisch for keeping NYC safe Different event
New York Post
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 2 of 13 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different events involving different cities (Los Angeles vs New York) and police chiefs (Jim McDonnell vs Jessica Tisch).”
Nithya Raman was for LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell before she was against him Different event
New York Post
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 2 of 25 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss Nithya Raman's criticism of LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, they describe different aspects and responses to those criticisms over time.”
Nithya Raman drank margaritas as ICE protests ignited LA — now she wants LAPD chief fired over his response Different event
New York Post
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 4 of 41 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss Nithya Raman's criticism of LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell and her drinking margaritas during protests, Article A focuses on the revelation of photos showing Raman drinking cocktails as protests occurred, while Article B reports on Chief McDonnell's response to these criticisms.”
Nithya Raman’s attack on LA police chief is idiotic — and dangerous Different event
New York Post
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 3 of 22 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the interaction between Nithya Raman and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell; Article A focuses on Raman's campaign video, while Article B discusses McDonnell's response to Raman's criticisms.”
Nithya Raman shows appalling judgment in ‘fascist’ video against LAPD Different event
New York Post
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 1 of 24 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of Nithya Raman's campaign and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell's response, but do not describe the same specific incident occurring at a single time.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
28
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
4%
1 of 28 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
7
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-09 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Who wrote this

Barclay Crawford
2 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 “It is the direct result of Democrat politicians actions – Becerra supports all this extremism and would make it worse.” “Everywhere I go in California, I hear incredibly strong concerns from Latino parents about what’s going on in our schools.” “They’re desperate for someone to help them push back against what they see as crazy, fringe ideologies that go against their deepest beliefs and values.” “One of the biggest concerns is over sports and locker rooms, where the vast majority of parents and kids just want to see a level playing field.” “The kind of ideological extremism we’ve seen pushed into schools is especially infuriating to parents as they see schools doing a worse job on the basics of what they should be delivering: a decent education.” “Nearly two thirds of Latino students in California do not meet basic standards for literacy.
2026-10-12 · assertive framing · Steve Hilton targets Latino voters with explosive trans sports ad featuring AI Xavier Becerra
🔮 LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell fired back at radical mayoral hopeful Nithya Raman’s attacks on police over their handling of ICE raids in Los Angeles last year — saying he was there as violent protesters unleashed chaos on the city and 52 officers were assaulted by protesters.
2026-10-09 · assertive framing · LAPD chief’s cutting takedown of cocktail-loving mayoral candidate Nithya Raman: ‘I was there’
Also by Barclay Crawford
Steve Hilton targets Latino voters with explosive trans sports ad featuring AI Xavier Becerra
2026-10-12 · New York Post
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

ICE LAPD Los Angeles The Post theLAPD

Subjects

McDonnell PERSON · 9× ICE ORG · 4× Los Angeles GPE · 4× LAPD ORG · 3× Raman PERSON · 3× America GPE · 1× Jim McDonnell PERSON · 1× Nithya Raman PERSON · 1× The Post ORG · 1× theLAPD ORG · 1×

Narrative

He also pushed back against suggestions that the LAPD helps ICE enforce immigration laws, saying the department’s policy against immigration enforcement dates to 1979. “We’re very comfortable at LAPD telling anybody that we do not work with ICE on immigration issues,” he said.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-09
🔮 LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell fired back at radical mayoral hopeful Nithya Raman’s attacks on police over their handling of ICE raids in Los Angeles last year — saying he was there as violent protesters unleashed chaos on the city and 52 officers were assaulted by protesters.
2026-10-09 · New York Post
LAPD chief’s cutting takedown of cocktail-loving mayoral candidate Nithya Raman: ‘I was there’ · assertive framing

Claims (28 extracted, 1 hedged)

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell fired back at radical mayoral hopeful Nithya Raman’s attacks on police over their handling of ICE raids in Los Angeles last year — saying he was there as violent protesters unleashed chaos on the city and 52 officers were assaulted by protesters. asserted
officers → fire → protesters
Raman has vowed to fire McDonnell for not doing enough to stop ICE from nabbing illegal migrants in the city. asserted
Raman → vow → city
She’s also come under fire for suggesting McDonnell and theLAPD are ”fascist liars.' asserted
McDonnell → come → fire
“I was out there,” McDonnell told The Post in a pointed reference to Raman’s happy hour drinks session as the city burned. asserted
city → tell → session
“I don’t know that people who are criticizing us were anywhere near there.” asserted
who → know → us
Asked about Raman’s “fascist” comments, McDonnell said he usually tries to brush off attacks to avoid distraction. asserted
he → ask → distraction
“It’s very disappointing to me that we have to deal with that,” he said. asserted
he → ’ → that
“In the second-largest city in America, we expect more than that.” asserted
we → expect → that
McDonnell defended the officers who confronted the unrest, describing a barrage of weapons he said could have left members of his force dead. uncertain
he → defend → force
“They were being assaulted by commercial-grade fireworks, which can kill you. asserted
which → assault → you
Those can be lethal,” he said. asserted
he → say → ?
“We were in a position where we had no choice but to defend ourselves, and we always try and use the least amount of force possible.” asserted
we → have → force
He also described Molotov cocktails, ATVs driven into police skirmish lines — as well as rocks, pieces of curb, bolts, batteries and frozen water bottles hurled at officers. asserted
He → describe → officers
The chief said cops deployed tear gas to prevent confrontations from escalating into a deadly-force situation. asserted
cops → say → situation
“So, in effect, by doing that, we saved lives,” he said. asserted
he → do → lives
McDonnell said he feared a deadly encounter in Los Angeles would have repercussions across the country. asserted
encounter → say → country
What we do here matters,” he said. asserted
he → matter → What
He also pushed back against suggestions that the LAPD helps ICE enforce immigration laws, saying the department’s policy against immigration enforcement dates to 1979. “We’re very comfortable at LAPD telling anybody that we do not work with ICE on immigration issues,” he said. asserted
he → push → issues
He distinguished that policy from the department’s partnerships with other federal agencies, including the FBI, DEA, ATF and Marshals Service, and its work with Homeland Security Investigations on human trafficking. asserted
He → distinguish → trafficking
McDonnell noted the department was “woefully understaffed,” with roughly 8,500 officers, but that crime was down in every category and officer-involved shootings had fallen 53% this year. asserted
shootings → note → category
He rejected the argument that falling crime means the city needs fewer cops. asserted
city → reject → cops
“Well, how much crime is acceptable?” he asked. asserted
he → ask → ?
“I would say none if you’re going to be one of the victims, or a loved one be a victim.” asserted
one → say → victims
Asked what the next mayor should do to support the department, McDonnell urged anyone seeking to lead Los Angeles to study policing firsthand, take ride-alongs and speak with officers. asserted
anyone → ask → officers
“It’s easy to be able to make a judgment on something you don’t know about and be very sure of yourself,” he said. asserted
he → ’ → yourself
His advice to anyone seeking a leadership role: “Get to know the issues.” asserted
advice → seek → issues
McDonnell warned that officers’ morale suffers when they feel unsupported by city leaders and the community, particularly when staffing is stretched. asserted
staffing → warn → leaders
“We go out there every day and we adapt and overcome and move on, and the results, I think, speak for themselves,” he said. asserted
he → go → themselves
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