# Hyperwoke lawmaker on track to be next LA mayor manages to anger progressives and conservatives by heaping praise on former police chief who was pro-migrant

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/hyperwoke-lawmaker-on-track-to-be-next-la-mayor-manages-to-anger-progressives-and-conservatives-by-heaping-praise-on-former-police-chief-who-was-pro-migrant/
- Published: 2026-10-22T21:05:48+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-22T21:20:32+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16229867/nithya-raman-los-angeles-police-chief-comments.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: World

## Key points

- Raman apologised for invoking former chief Daryl Gates.
- Gates’s legacy includes a 1979 immigration policy and deep controversy.
- Mayor Karen Bass says Raman is not ready to lead Los Angeles.

## Summary

Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman drew criticism from both progressives and conservatives after praising the city’s past approach to limiting police cooperation with immigration enforcement while referring to former police chief Daryl Gates. The reference was contentious because Gates is associated both with a 1979 policy protecting people from immigration-status checks and with the LAPD’s record under his leadership, including its handling of the 1992 Rodney King riots.

Raman later said mentioning Gates was a mistake, apologised and said she had not intended to praise him. Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass called the apology too late and argued Raman was not ready to lead the city, which has 3.8 million residents. Gates’s tenure also drew criticism over racial violence allegations, deaths linked to police chokeholds and his 1990 remark that casual drug users should be shot.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.