Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) sparked outrage among a crowd of homeless Americans late last week when she told them to “go home” during a tense confrontation in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Times, which reported on the incident, claimed the 83-year-old progressive congresswoman tried to stop the newspaper from publishing the story by warning its investigative reporter they were “harming” themselves and the community.
Waters had reportedly tried to quell an angry group of people who had come to an event hosted by a nonprofit advocacy group, who had been misled by a social media post into believing they could buy Section 8 vouchers permanently receive subsidized housing.
Fathers and Mothers Who Care, the group that opened its South Los Angeles office to help California homeless people find shelter, was inundated by “hundreds of people” who grew frustrated and unruly.
On Friday, Waters told the crowd, “You can’t get Section 8 vouchers here.”
She later told them to “go home,” and anger erupted.
“We don’t have a home, that’s why we’re here. Which house will we go to?’ shouted one person in the crowd.
Others tried to draw Waters’ attention to how many people were already there, and had been for hours.
“Nothing’s going to happen here today,” Waters said, waving his arms.
Someone else shouted, “Miss Maxine, you have to work with me.”
The progressive Democrat had been confronted with activists and homeless Californians who appeared to have been misled into thinking they could get vouchers for permanent subsidized housing
She then broke out with an activist who confronted her about the shortcomings of California’s housing system, video obtained by the Times shows.
“Excuse me, there’s nobody in Washington who works the damn hardest for their people than I do. I don’t want to hear that. No, no, no,” Waters said angrily.
She added, “What do you think I do every day?” when asked to collaborate more with the community.
“What do you do every day? I’m still on the damn road!’ screamed a woman.
Referring to the frustrated crowd, she said, “The money you’ve gotten so far came from me in Washington, DC.”
“I’ll keep working, I’ll get the information … there are no more coupons today,” Waters said before leaving.
A voice can be heard calling after her: “There never were vouchers.”
But Waters, in comments to ABC 7, apparently blamed the federal government for the mess.
“I blame those who have the money that we sent from the federal government for not being able to communicate properly and deliver the services that we have worked so hard to provide,” she said.
Housing attorney Kridikel Race Truth Bae (right) speaks to people about how to apply for assistance services, including emergency housing vouchers, in south Los Angeles on Tuesday. A woman who was at the event Tuesday told the Times she was present Friday when Waters was present and said the congresswoman told her to come back the following week
Hundreds of thousands of California homeless people overwhelmed staff at the South Los Angeles events
The Times had spoken to a homeless woman who was at Friday’s event and said Waters told her to come back the following Tuesday, apparently still under the impression she could get permanent housing.
“I have it, everything they asked for. But every time we get close to the line, they close the door. They opened the door about 20 minutes ago and said they weren’t serving anyone today,” said Joyce Burnett, 77.
Times reporter Connor Sheets said he was then rebuffed during a phone call by Waters, warning that “you will harm yourself and the community” if he publishes the report.
She also dismissed specific questions about the incident as “a bunch of rumors.”
“You will harm yourself and the community if you try to piece this together with no background,” she claims in the report.
“I don’t want you to start writing it, you won’t understand.”
The call was reportedly cut off after five minutes.
California’s cities have been gripped by a homelessness crisis in recent years.
The state’s most recent census found that 161,000 people in California slept without a roof over their heads each night, although the number has not been updated for more than two years – since January 2020.
A man packs up his tent as the city of Los Angeles clears Toriumi Plaza in Little Tokyo, where a homeless encampment is located, on Thursday, March 17
It’s likely that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the problem since then.
The Democrat-led state has poured billions of dollars into attempts to resolve the crisis, but has been criticized for using taxpayers’ money inefficiently.
Late last month, it was noted that a $1.2 billion program aimed at building modest housing for people living on the streets is expected to spend up to $837,000 to house a single person .
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti defended the program on Twitter, claiming it “is producing more units than promised, at a lower cost than expected.”
Last June, Garcetti committed nearly $1 billion from his city’s $11.2 billion budget to address homelessness.
Despite the widespread problem, Los Angeles County does not have a dedicated office or contact person dedicated solely to resolving the problem — a vulnerability highlighted in a recent LA County Homelessness Commission report.
Waters last summer introduced a bill to end homelessness nationwide.
It includes $600 billion to build “equitable, affordable, and accessible housing infrastructure,” as well as providing $100 billion for “down payments and other financial assistance to first-generation homebuyers as they purchase their first home” to address racial inequalities in terms of wealth and prosperity decrease home ownership.