Schiff's GOP opponent rips Dem for ignoring LA's smash-and-grab crime surge, enabling 'criminal culture'

Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff’s 2024 GOP Senate opponent in California is blasting the congressman for turning a blind eye to surging crime in his state, including a recent string of flash mob smash-and-grab robberies, one of which recently occurred in Schiff’s own district.

The crime spike in Los Angeles in recent years has recently become more prominent in the form of high-profile smash-and-grab robberies in high-end department stores, including a Nordstrom store that resulted in theft of merchandise worth an estimated $60,000 to $100,000.

Conservatives in Los Angeles have pointed to zero cash bail and progressive policies that lowered the threshold to make arrests as a driving factor in rising crime. Eric Early, a Republican attorney running against Schiff for U.S. Senate, told Fox News Digital that Schiff has not been vocal enough about those policies and the resulting crime.

"There is no punishment for these people who are doing the smash-and-grabs, zero," Early said, "and Adam Schiff has not said a word against it."

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"Our district attorney, who Adam Schiff supports, refuses to charge them with felony theft or burglary. So, they all know they can get away with this. And the fact that Adam Schiff has not said a word about it is further confirmation about how he supports this criminal culture out here."

Last week, dozens of masked thieves descended upon a Yves Saint Laurent store in Glendale, California, within Schiff’s district, and made off with about $300,000 within minutes.

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It appears that Schiff has not mentioned the Glendale incident or any other smash-and-grab incident across the state, either on Twitter or via press release.

"In Los Angeles now, more and more families, more and more people of all sorts of every walk of life, of all ages, of all political parties, are afraid to go out to go shopping in their local stores because they don't want to be caught up in the middle of what could be a terribly dangerous situation, and Schiff is just not a leader," Early told Fox News Digital.

"There's a complete vacuum of leadership in this entire state of California, and Adam Schiff is one of the members of the vacuum class."

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Schiff’s office and campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

A recent Berkeley IGS Poll shows that Early, who leads a crowded field in the race to replace retiring Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein with 31% of California voters still undecided, told Fox News Digital that his campaign is based on fighting for "forgotten Americans" that goes "across party lines." 

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"We see what's going on, and we see in California here that we have a ruling class of elected officials who are allowing not only allowing this stuff to happen but are signing off on the very laws and policies that are continuing to perpetuate it and make it even worse," Early said.