‘MY OBLIGATION’

California Mayor Wants to ‘Purge’ Homeless Population With ‘Free Fentanyl’

Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris said he wants to give his city’s homeless population “all the fentanyl they want.”

A Southern California mayor said he wants to give his city’s homeless population “all the fentanyl they want” and later called for a federal “purge.” In a February city council meeting, Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris responded to a resident’s concern about the city’s handling of its homeless population by saying: “What I want to do is give them free fentanyl... I mean, that’s what I want to do. I want to give them all the fentanyl they want.” He doubled down on those comments in an interview with FOX LA on Friday where he said he was referring specifically to unhoused “criminals” who “refuse” to get help and that it’s “so easy” to get fentanyl on the streets that it wouldn’t make a difference if the city gave it away for free. “Quite frankly, I wish that the president would give us a purge. Because we do need to purge these people,” Parris continued. “Now, is it harsh? Of course it’s harsh. But it’s my obligation as the mayor of the city of Lancaster to protect the hardworking families that live there, and I am no longer able to do it.”