LOS ANGELES, CA – As new data show homelessness rising in Los Angeles, local activist John Alle said Mayor Karen Bass has neglected her responsibility to address the issue and witness firsthand the crime, drug use and deteriorating conditions in some of the city’s hardest-hit neighborhoods.

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority released its 2026 annual homeless count Friday, finding overall homelessness increased 3.4% in LA and 1.2% across the Los Angeles Continuum of Care following two consecutive years of declines, though LAHSA said «neither change is considered statistically significant.»

The count estimated 45,194 people were experiencing homelessness in LA and 73,040 across the Continuum of Care, which excludes Long Beach, Pasadena and Glendale.

«She doesn’t get it. She doesn’t see it,» John Alle, a Santa Monica business owner and co-founder of the Santa Monica Coalition who owns properties across Los Angeles, told Fox News Digital in an interview last month.

KAREN BASS GRILLED OVER BROKEN HOMELESSNESS PROMISE, BLAMES BUREAUCRACY FOR SLOWED PROGRESS

«We’ve invited her numerous times to ride along with us through Alvarado, Third Street, Park View, MacArthur Park and Westlake. Come drive with us. Have a police officer follow behind for security. And she refused.»

The report also found street homelessness rose 7.9% in Los Angeles and 3.3% countywide, with an estimated 29,115 people living on the streets in the city. LAHSA said funding cuts affecting Time-Limited Subsidies and other economic factors reduced the number of people permanently housed by about 5,100 from the «record high of 28,625 people housed permanently in 2024.»

In a press release Thursday responding to the data, Bass argued funding cuts «at the federal and state levels» contributed to the rise, adding the Trump administration had «driven up the cost of gas, groceries, and rent — pushing more families to the edge — and slashed critical safety net funding.»

«For two years straight, we drove down homelessness by historic margins — but as expected, last year our efforts ultimately couldn’t keep up with policies and funding cuts at the federal and state levels that pushed more people onto the streets,» she said.

Bass also admitted in a May interview with CNN’s Elex Michaelson that she did not fulfill her promise to end street homelessness in the city by 2026 because she «didn’t anticipate some of the bureaucratic barriers» her administration would face.

Alle said crime has «gotten so bad» in neighborhoods including Little Bangladesh, which Bass has previously described as one of «LA’s most vibrant communities.»

«In Little Bangladesh, the crime is so bad that we’re finding people on the streets unconscious,» he said. «We’re having handymen pick up needles and dispose of them.»

SPENCER PRATT SAYS HIS POLICY WILL FORCE HOMELESS OUT OF LA AND INTO CITIES LIKE SEATTLE

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass prepares to leave the scene where city workers clear a large homeless encampment behind a public storage facility along the San Diego (405) Freeway at the end of Oxnard Street in Van Nuys on July 31, 2025 (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Pointing to his tenants’ experiences, Alle said he sees the impact of the crisis every day on the «mom-and-pop» renters who live in his apartment buildings and pay thousands of dollars a month, saying «it doesn’t sit well with me.»

«From people overdosing outside the gated apartment buildings I own, to people attacking each other, murders, and calling 911 only to be put on hold for sometimes an hour, and then being told, ‘Well, you’re lucky. Sometimes it’s two hours,’» he said.

Alle accused Bass of ignoring neighborhood conditions despite living nearby at Getty House, the mayor’s official residence in Windsor Square.

«The streetlights are out,» he said. «The rubbish isn’t collected. The streets are dirty. It’s one thing to complain about copper wire theft, but we’re just talking about normal streetlights and replacing the bulbs.»

But it’s not just residents who are affected, according to Alle, who said small businesses are being forced to close early to avoid crime and making it harder to stay in the city.

«When I see them having to leave work at four o’clock, I see them having to close their businesses at four o’clock during the winter and at dusk during the summer,» he said. «That’s not good. I want them to succeed. If they don’t succeed, they can’t afford to stay in LA I feel for them, and their problems are my problems.»

HOUSING FIRST IS A DISASTER. I SAW SACRAMENTO’S HOMELESS CHAOS FIRSTHAND

A homeless encampment near Venice Beach in Los Angeles. Residents have called for stronger oversight of nearby supportive housing programs and improved public safety. (Jill Connelly/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Multiple studies have found that a large portion of homeless individuals in Los Angeles County aren’t originally from there and Alle has been vocal about how his coalition partnered with an artificial intelligence company to create an AI-powered hotline that has helped more than 40 homeless people return to their home states over the past year.

«They’ve called us from shelters,» he said. «They’ve called us from parks. The people calling aren’t entrenched with the drugs or the gangs. They came here for noble reasons.»

Additionally, Alle said his coalition collaborates with local law enforcement, paying for bus, plane or train tickets to help homeless people voluntarily return home, where they can reunite with family or enter treatment programs.

«We’re not gonna put them behind the slammer,» he said.

Alle said the most «heartbreaking» part is watching families embrace loved ones returning home, with many looking «completely different» after recovery.

«It’s a long road ahead, but they’re trying because they’ve seen hell in LA,» he said.

While acknowledging the program won’t end all homelessness, Alle said helping even a small number of people rebuild their lives is a victory.

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«One person saved is great. Fifteen percent, and the 40 people we’ve saved, is tremendous,» he said.

Bass will face off against progressive city councilwoman Nithya Raman, who has her own ties to the homeless crisis as chair of the Los Angeles City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, in her bid to win another term as mayor in November.

En medio del conflicto diplomático entre los gobiernos de Argentina y Brasil, el Parlamento paraguayo salió a repudiar una frase de Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sobre la Guerra de la Triple Alianza. «No olvidemos que, un buen día, Paraguay decidió invadir Brasil», dijo el presidente brasileño para justificar un aumento de la inversión en defensa.

El acto en el que Lula pronunció su frase ocurrió el viernes, poco antes de que estallara el conflicto con Javier Milei. Este miércoles, el Senado y la Cámara de Diputados de Paraguay expresaron su repudio a las declaraciones de Lula. Lo acusaron de «distorsionar» la historia.

En una sesión extraordinaria, la Cámara alta aprobó una declaración para «repudiar enérgicamente» las expresiones de Lula, quien aseguró el viernes pasado, durante una visita a una fábrica de la empresa de defensa Avibras Aeroco, que a su país le gusta la paz, pero que no pueden «olvidar que, un buen día, Paraguay decidió invadir Brasil», y luego lo hizo en Argentina y Uruguay.

Los senadores exhortaron a las autoridades brasileñas a tener «un tratamiento respetuoso, equilibrado y veraz de la historia compartida, en aras de fortalecer las relaciones bilaterales», al tiempo que destacaron que Paraguay es «uno de los países más pacíficos de América del Sur» y que «no representa amenaza alguna a la soberanía ni a la integridad territorial del Brasil».

Según el texto, propuesto por el senador opositor Eduardo Nakayama, los dichos de Lula «distorsionan y simplifican unilateralmente el origen de la Guerra de la Triple Alianza», en la que su país se enfrentó contra Brasil, Argentina y Uruguay, y atribuyen a Paraguay «la condición de agresor exclusivo», omitiendo la invasión del Imperio brasileño a Uruguay.

Las consecuencias para Paraguay de la también conocida como Guerra Grande fueron «catastróficas e incomparables en la historia de América del Sur», subrayó la declaración, al señalar que el país perdió entre el 50 y 60 % de su población, provocó «devastación económica, productiva del país, la ocupación militar prolongada, el saqueo y la imposición de deudas de guerra».

Pregunta para el @mreparaguay :

Cuando Celeste Amarilla habló mal de Mbappé, el comunicado salió casi al instante.

Ahora Lula dice que “un buen día Paraguay decidió invadir Brasil” para justificar su gasto militar y ni un comunicado, ni un tuit.

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¿Hay alguna diferencia entre…

— LA RED 🇵🇾 (@LaRed_Py) July 25, 2026

«Esta herida permanece abierta en la memoria colectiva del pueblo paraguayo, y se agrava por actitudes y declaraciones» como las de Lula, añadió el documento.

Durante el debate, el senador opositor Rafael Filizzola dijo que le resulta «indignante» el «banalizar una guerra como esta», al tiempo que lamentó que la Cancillería paraguaya no haya emitido un reclamo oficial.

«El presidente Lula tiene derecho a defender la seguridad de su país, pero no tiene derecho a usar la tragedia paraguaya para justificar armas», expresó el también opositor Ignacio Iramain.

Por otro lado, la declaración de la Cámara de Diputados, también aprobada por mayoría y cuyo texto final se difundió este miércoles, «repudia» las expresiones de Lula «por distorsionar y minimizar la dimensión» de este conflicto bélico, considerado el más cruento de Suramérica.

El senador @edu_nakayama, pidió adherir al orden del día y tratar como primer punto un proyecto de Declaración que repudia las expresiones del presidente del Brasil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, sobre la guerra contra la Triple Alianza. Solicitud aprobada por sus colegas presentes. pic.twitter.com/GNqdFZMbI8

— SenadoPy (@SenadoresPy) July 29, 2026

La resolución, que fue enviada al presidente paraguayo, Santiago Peña, también exhorta al Ejecutivo a «impulsar las gestiones diplomáticas para la restitución» de los trofeos de guerra, como «expresión de justicia histórica».

Uno de los trofeos mencionados es el Cañón Cristiano, una pieza de artillería elaborada en 1866 por Paraguay con el bronce fundido de las campanas entregadas por el pueblo para defender al país en medio de la guerra y que permanece actualmente en el Museo Histórico Nacional de Río de Janeiro.

Los diputados además instaron a que los hechos históricos que han marcado «profundamente» a los pueblos «sean abordados siempre con sensibilidad, responsabilidad histórica y espíritu de reconciliación, honrando la verdad, la memoria de las víctimas y el principio del derecho internacional».

Las declaraciones de Lula causaron indignación entre diversos sectores paraguayos, mientras que el Gobierno ha enfrentado duras críticas ante lo que ha sido calificado como un «silencio» diplomático.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is calling for Anthony Fauci to be held in contempt, prosecuted for perjury and sent to jail after the former White House COVID-19 advisor pleaded his Fifth Amendment right more than 100 times during a Senate hearing Wednesday.

«Years from now, they’ll look back and say, ‘What collective madness overtook this country?’» Cruz told Fox News Digital.

«I think Anthony Fauci has had contempt for Congress and contempt for the American people for decades,» he said. «His diary shows that he deliberately lied to the American people over and over and over again.»

FAUCI PLEADS FIFTH WITH ‘ZERO LEGAL JUSTIFICATION’ AS CRITICS ERUPT AND DEMAND CONTEMPT CHARGES

Cruz made the comments after Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul announced he will seek contempt charges against Fauci after Fauci dodged self-incrimination by refusing to answer any questions throughout the entirety of the hearing.

«Dr. Fauci ought to think about what it says about the end of his career, that what he will be remembered for the most is pleading the Fifth more than 100 times,» Cruz said.

«He’s been the most damaging bureaucrat in the history of America.»

RAND PAUL SEEKS CONTEMPT CHARGES AFTER FAUCI INVOKES FIFTH AMENDMENT MORE THAN 100 TIMES

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas., is calling for Anthony Fauci to be held in contempt and sent to jail after his Senate hearing on Wednesday for his alleged dishonesty about COVID-19 to both Congress and the American people. (Nicholas Ballasy/Fox News Digital)

Cruz and Fauci have had a longstanding feud, similar to his relationships with other GOP senators like Paul, over Fauci’s handling of the outbreak and claims he was dishonest about the origins of COVID-19 to both Congress and the American people.

«In his diary, he wrote early on that it was clear that the COVID virus did not come from the wet market in Wuhan, and then he turned around and said exactly the opposite thing on national television,» Cruz said.

The released private diaries expose that Fauci considered possibilities about how the virus originated that he later downplayed to the public. He wrote that scientists considered the possibility of a deliberately inserted laboratory origin worthy of further expert review, while his later statements suggested the opposite to the public.

LEGACY MEDIA IGNORES MASSIVE ANTHONY FAUCI DOCUMENT RELEASE ALLEGING HE MISLED CONGRESS ON COVID ORIGINS

The Texas senator also accused Fauci of pushing for the lockdown of schools. Fauci wrote in his diary that he convinced both New York and California government officials to lock down their state’s school systems. This was, again, contradictory to what he said publicly, when he claimed multiple times in interviews and testified to the House Oversight Committee that he «did not close the schools.»

«In his diary, he brags about convincing Democrats in New York and California to shut schools down, and yet he goes on TV and says, ‘Oh, I wasn’t for shutdowns,’» Cruz said.

«The school shutdowns, which Fauci bragged that he was responsible for, may well be the single most destructive public policy step we’ve seen in decades. That learning loss will stick with those kids the rest of their lives when they’re 90 years old.

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«They will still be suffering the consequences of Anthony Fauci’s corrupt and dishonest shutdowns.

«The fact that he knew he was lying to the American people — he should be held in contempt, he should be prosecuted for perjury, and he should go to jail.»