A Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) source told Breitbart News on Tuesday that there were not enough officers available to direct traffic and assist the evacuation from the Palisades Fire because they were guarding President Joe Biden.
The post LAPD Source: Police Could Not Help Fire Evacuation Because Guarding Biden appeared first on Breitbart.
A Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) source told Breitbart News on Tuesday that there were not enough officers available to direct traffic and assist the evacuation from the Palisades Fire because they were guarding President Joe Biden.
Biden was in Los Angeles from January 6 through 8, largely for family reasons, as his first great-grandchild was born. But because LAPD officers had been detailed to help protect him and his family, officers struggled to reach the Pacific Palisades as the Palisades Fire began to burn, and frightened residents became stuck in a traffic on Sunset Boulevard.
“We tried to get over here [the Palisades] in time, but we couldn’t,” the source said. “We were detailed to the president.”
Breitbart News noted at the time that people began evacuating the Pacific Palisades at the same time that emergency vehicles began arriving in large numbers, competing for space on the roadways with people trying to leave the area — and also with people trying to reach their houses, or fetch their children from school, before leaving.
As smoke began nearing the intersection of Palisades Drive and Sunset Boulevard, people began panicking and fleeing for their lives. Firefighters also told remaining drivers to leave, then used a bulldozer to clear the cars.
The traffic caused delays for fire engines attempting to reach the source of the fire before it could spread — though the unusually strong Santa Ana wind that spread the blaze might have overwhelmed firefighting efforts at that stage anyway.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
