LA Mayor Karen Bass Chuckles in Disbelief After DHS Official Says Her Arrest Is ‘on the Table’: ‘Pathetic’

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) chuckled in disbelief after a Department of Homeland Security official suggested her arrest may be “on the table” after the mayor confronted federal immigration agents in her city.

Bass joined MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Tuesday and accused federal immigration agents of not communicating and coordinating with her on activities in the city, including an ICE operation descending on MacArthur Park on Monday morning.

Federal officers on horseback and in armored vehicles entered MacArthur Park on Monday, though there is no official confirmation of any arrests being made. Bass confronted agents in person and condemned the actions as part of a “political agenda of invoking fear and terror.”

On Tuesday, Hayes played a clip for Bass of DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin on Fox News reacting to Bass’ “interference” in the immigration operation.

“When you have scenes like you did out in LA today where you have the mayor, Karen Bass, interfering with official federal officer proceedings trying to enforce the laws that are put on the books by members of, duly elected members of Congress, are you all hesitant to just go out and arrest her or has all of this behavior not reached that threshold yet?” Charles Hurt asked McLaughlin.

“We’re certainly keeping everything on the table, Charlie,” the DHS official said.

Bass reacted with a brief chuckle at the comment.

“Well, you know, they’re going to arrest me for doing my job. I mean, as mayor, my No. 1 responsibility is to keep Angelinos safe. Now, it never dawned on me that I would have to worry about keeping Angelinos safe from my own government, from military that are supposed to be overseas fighting foreign enemies, from the Customs and Border Patrol,” she said.

Bass added that she believes Los Angeles is an “experiment” for the type of federal force people will soon see in numerous other cities as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation operation.

“I don’t know what this is other than a political stunt. I do feel like LA is a Petri dish. And we are the experiment and basically sending the signal to the nation that this is what’s coming your way. First LA, let’s see who’s next,” she said.

Hayes then rolled a clip of Customs and Border Patrol El Centro Sector Chief Greg Bovino declaring he and his officials do not work for Bass and she should get used to the new “normal.”

“The federal government is not leaving LA. I don’t work for Karen Bass, the federal government doesn’t work for Karen Bass. We’re going to be here until that mission’s accomplished, as I said and better get used to us now because this is going to normal very soon,” he said.

Bass called the comments “pathetic” and claimed that some areas of Los Angeles are nearly shut down out of fear of ICE raids.

“We have restaurants and other places of work where the workforce is afraid to come in. Having restaurant owners tell me that this is worse than COVID. So this is damaging to our economy,” she said. “It’s damaging, especially to the children. And this is all about a political stunt.”

Watch above via MSNBC.