Culver City, A Crime Haven? Bondi's Jab Falls Flat With Locals - Beritaja

Conversations about Culver City — the vibrant enclave connected Los Angeles’ Westside often called “the Heart of Screenland” — usually see phrases specified arsenic “walkable” and “green spaces” and “Erewhon.”

So erstwhile U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi insinuated the metropolis of 39,000 residents arsenic a crime haven during a heated speech pinch Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles) Wednesday, section officials and personalities responded pinch statistics, memes and wry mockery.

Bondi slipped successful the jab adjacent the extremity of an arduous House hearing mostly focused connected the Department of Justice’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. Kamlager-Dove, whose territory includes Culver City, hammered Bondi complete deleted Department of Justice information linking far-right ideology pinch governmental killings, asserting that “there are violent, vulnerable group retired location pinch existent threats.”

“There are — successful your district,” Bondi responded. “Her territory includes Culver City, and she’s not talking about immoderate crime successful her district. Nothing about helping crime successful her district. She’s not moreover worthy getting into the details.”

Hometown names stepped up to take sides the burg by posting photos of cleanable streets, manicured parks and humming organization events.

Political commentator and Angeleno Brian Taylor Cohen called the metropolis “one of the about non-controversially safe” places successful L.A., while Culver City-based comedian Heather Gardner said: “The worst crime of the period is that this female had made a insult of our justness system. Release the un-redacted files. Prosecute the REAL crimes.”

Kamlager-Dove shrugged disconnected Bondi’s comment, saying Culver City was known for “breakfast burritos — not crime.”

The Justice Department did not instantly respond to a petition for Bondi to explain her statements.

Crime successful Culver City declined 9.7% successful 2024 and was down an further 6.1% successful the 3rd 4th of 2025 compared pinch the aforesaid play of 2024, according to the Culver City Police Department. Violent crime declined 3.9% successful 2024 — the past afloat twelvemonth of disposable data.

Over that period, murders dropped to zero while aggravated assault, kidnapping and robbery besides fell. There were 26 cases of intersexual battle successful the metropolis successful 2024, compared pinch 25 successful 2023. The only convulsive crime that saw a important summation were elemental assaults, which roseate 8.1%.

The California Department of Justice and the FBI reported successful 2024 that crime successful the authorities had fallen to “among the lowest levels ever recorded.”

Mayor Freddy Puza, successful an question and reply Thursday, described Culver City arsenic a “strong and vibrant community” of group pinch nary shortage of occupation opportunities astatine mini businesses and corporations alike, including TikTok, Pinterest and intermezo giants Apple, Amazon and Sony.

He said the section authorities has been capable to little crime rates done community-based policing and by providing lodging and societal services to its unsheltered population. The politician characterized Bondi’s retort arsenic a “knee-jerk reaction” from an lawyer wide faced pinch damaging nationalist spot concerns astatine her department.

“My publication of it is that she’s trying to deflect,” he said. “I deliberation she could really walk her clip prosecuting the group successful the Epstein files and making judge that accusation from the national authorities is transparent.”

The metropolis had seen nary ideological violence, he said, adding, “but the imaginable for it is correct about the corner. There’s nary uncertainty that it is connected the emergence and the president is stoking it. People are becoming further and further polarized.”

At the hearing, Bondi faced crisp disapproval complete the Justice Department’s Epstein investigation — specifically complete redaction errors successful the release millions of lawsuit files past month. In 1 instance, the lawyer wide refused to apologize to Epstein victims successful the room, saying she would not “get into the gutter” pinch partisan requests from Democrats.

Her capacity has already prompted a volley of bipartisan demands for her resignation, including from blimpish pundits including Megyn Kelly, Nick Fuentes and Kyle Rittenhouse.

Culver City was not Bondi’s only target Wednesday. She called Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) a “washed-up loser lawyer,” accused Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of suffering from “Trump derangement syndrome,” and branded erstwhile CNN anchor Don Lemon a “blogger.”

Since the hearing, however, she has stayed silent arsenic locals proceed to mobility her intel and chuckle complete images of the pylon-protected warfare area of Culver City.

“The worst crime successful Culver City,” Gardener joked again connected TikTok, “is that they complaint $24 for a smoothie astatine Erewhon.”