US Attorney calls out 'loud-mouth' California Dems as feds step
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli blasted California Democrats for watering down criminal law after feds led a massive Skid Row crackdown.
The feds had to come into Los Angeles and clean up Skid Row because the people running the city couldn't be bothered. That's the story in a nutshell, and it's why Bill Essayli's jab at California Democrats lands with such force. He called them "loud-mouth" politicians who talk tough but water down the laws that would actually keep repeat offenders off the streets.
Commentary is separate from the original publisher's reporting.
Video US Attorney blasts California Dems for 'watered down' crime laws after Skid Row drug bust Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli called out California Democrats for watering down the state's criminal law after federal law enforcement led the charge on a drug crackdown in the infamous Skid Row neighborhood on Thursday.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli called out California Democrats for watering down the state's criminal law after federal law enforcement led the charge on a massive drug crackdown in the infamous Skid Row neighborhood on Thursday.
Essayli told Fox News Digital in an interview that California's state and local law enforcement have worked with the feds just fine, but that it's the politicians who are getting in the way.
"Unfortunately, states like California have totally watered down their laws, their criminal justice laws. They've also emptied their prisons and closed prisons, so effectively, there's not much of a deterrence on the state side. No one faces any serious consequences on the state side," Essayli said.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli answers questions during a news conference outside the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department in Rancho Cucamonga on Friday, April 10, 2026. (Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
"We work really well with our local law enforcement partners," he continued. "Local law enforcement isn't the problem. It's more the governor, it's the legislature, it's these loud-mouth federal, you know, Congress members who all they care about is attacking the administration, attacking the president."
Essayli did give credit to Mayor Karen Bass for approving the Los Angeles Police Department to participate in Thursday's Operation Save Skid Row.
"This is a climate in which you have people right now trying to defund the police. You have people trying to disarm the LAPD, and those people are on the side of criminals," he added. "Anyone who's calling for disarming the police is on the side of the drug dealers that we arrested today. They're lunatics."
Law enforcement officers look at encampments that had been taped off in Skid Row on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. Federal law enforcement officials, along with the Los Angeles Police Department, are targeting drug dealing in Downtown Los Angeles with "Operation Save Skid Row." (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Operation Save Skid Row saw federal and city authorities execute 28 arrest warrants and 44 search warrants in an effort to dismantle drug distribution networks in the notorious neighborhood.
Over 100 law enforcement vehicles were involved in the operation, with arrests targeting members of multiple gangs, including the "Main Street Crips," "Grape Street/Raymond Avenue Crips" and the "Pueblo Bishop Bloods."
City workers clear encampments in Skid Row on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
"We are no longer going to have open-air drug markets in the United States, let alone on Skid Row. And that is the reason you see so many homeless people who are experiencing psychotic episodes, who are unwell, they aren't seeking help, it's because you have people, like the drug dealers we are arresting today, keeping them addicted and taking their public assistance money to pay for their drugs," Essayli said during a news conference on Thursday.
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events.
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The feds had to come into Los Angeles and clean up Skid Row because the people running the city couldn't be bothered. That's the story in a nutshell, and it's why Bill Essayli's jab at California Democrats lands with such force. He called them "loud-mouth" politicians who talk tough but water down the laws that would actually keep repeat offenders off the streets. You don't need to live in LA to see the pattern: a DA who refuses to prosecute, a legislature that caps sentences, and a governor who treats the whole thing like a PR problem.
The federal crackdown wasn't an overreach. It was a rescue mission. Essayli points directly at the state's own record, and the numbers back him up. When local officials let shoplifters walk and drug dealers set up shop in open view, the feds step in because someone has to. Skid Row isn't a homelessness crisis anymore. It's a public safety crisis with a political cover story.
Californians keep voting for the same people who created this mess, and the same people keep explaining why the mess is actually a sign of compassion. Essayli's "loud-mouth" line is about the gap between the rhetoric and the reality. They'll hold press conferences about housing first, but they won't prosecute the guys who turn the shelters into open-air drug markets. The feds didn't have to do a thing. They chose to do something because the state chose to do nothing.
That's the conservative case in one paragraph. Not about ideology, but about who actually steps up when the system fails. Essayli is right to call out the Democrats, and he's right to remind us that federal power isn't the enemy when local power refuses to do its job. We hope the next time a California DA gets a tough-on-crime speech, the voters remember what "loud-mouth" actually means.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.