Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.) was caught on video telling a group of homeless people to “go home” at a chaotic event on Friday. Waters also instructed a journalist not to cover the story, according to a report.
Hundreds of homeless people showed up in Los Angles to obtain Section 8 housing vouchers that were falsely promoted on social media. An incorrect and unofficial social media post promised vouchers for permanent, subsidized housing to homeless people on Friday.
Fathers and Mothers Who Care, a nonprofit that offers “programs that provide our homeless community with housing, jobs, showers, food, and clothing,” was swamped by misinformed people who believed they could receive housing vouchers. Unfortunately, the organization could only take people’s information and enter it into an emergency housing database.
Homeless people, many of whom showed up at daybreak for housing assistance, were completely devastated when they discovered that they could not get a rare voucher. Some in the crowd became disgruntled, and heated arguments erupted.
“The crowd overwhelmed Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority workers, who were unable to meet more than a small fraction of the need and left while throngs of people were still waiting for help,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
The housing authority was at the gathering at the behest of Waters.
When Waters was confronted by the disheartened crowd, she became snippy.
Waters, with her face mask pulled below her chin, told the group of homeless people, “I want everybody to go home.”
The command was met with resistance and ridicule by the destitute Angelenos.
One woman in the crowd yelled, “We don’t got no home, that’s why we’re here. What home we gonna go to?”
Waters told the crowd, “Nothing is going to happen here today.”
At one point, Waters became frustrated and lashed out, “Excuse me, there’s nobody in Washington who works for their people any f***ing harder than I do. I don’t want to hear this. No, no, no.”
“That’s what I do every day. The money that you got thus far came from me in Washington, D.C.,” the finger-wagging Waters scolded the crowd.
The founder of the Kingdom Warriors Foundation, a nonprofit “providing housing resources and mentoring programs for inner-city youth and families,” said there were more than 450 people in the crowd on Friday. Kridikel Race Truth Bey revealed that “maybe not even five people got paper applications in their hand that day” and “everyone else got the shaft.”
Linda Kelly, operations director of Fathers and Mothers Who Care, told the Los Angeles Times, “Someone got issued a voucher, their baby daddy or whoever was with them, and they posted it like, ‘Look, I got my voucher,’ and it went viral. Then Maxine Waters came and it went more viral.”
Joyce Burnett, a 77-year-old disabled woman, said she attended the event on Friday and returned at 6:15 a.m. on Tuesday in an effort to obtain permanent housing.
“Maxine Waters was here, and she said to come back Tuesday with our paperwork filled out,” Burnett told the Times. “I have it, everything they asked for. But every time we get near the front of the line, they shut the door. They opened the door about 20 minutes ago and said they’re not servicing anyone else today.”
The Times contacted Waters for comment about the chaotic event.
“Waters declined to address specific questions about the events and her Friday remarks during a phone call from Washington on Tuesday morning, instead saying ‘it’s a bunch of rumors’ and requesting that this story not be published,” the Times reported.
Waters allegedly attempted to discourage the outlet from covering the story.
“You’ll hurt yourself and the community trying to put this together without background,” Waters reportedly said. “I don’t want you to start trying to write it, you won’t understand it.”