A new documentary accuses Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass of standing by while Los Angeles burned.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A searing new documentary titled Paradise Abandoned is igniting controversy ahead of its December release, alleging that California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass failed to act as catastrophic wildfires destroyed entire neighborhoods earlier this year.
WATCH THE OFFICIAL TRAILER:
According to Breitbart News, the film chronicles how government inaction, poor resource allocation, and bureaucratic paralysis allowed multiple fires—including the devastating Pacific Palisades blaze—to rage unchecked. More than 23,000 acres burned, nearly 7,000 buildings were lost, and 12 people died as the inferno swept through some of Los Angeles’ most vulnerable communities.
Through raw interviews and first-hand accounts, Paradise Abandoned captures the anger and disbelief of residents who say the state and city abandoned them. Witnesses describe how no extra fire engines were stationed in “high-risk” zones despite years of warnings from fire officials.
One resident recounts an unforgettable moment: Newsom and Bass walking near the burning Chase Bank Building as firefighters stood idle beside them. “They didn’t lift a finger,” the man says in the film. “That building burned to the ground while the governor held a press conference a few feet away.”
The film also highlights the absence of Mayor Bass during the fire’s outbreak. She was reportedly attending an unrelated event overseas in Africa as neighborhoods in her city were being destroyed. The documentary contrasts her absence and Newsom’s public statements with footage of desperate families trying to save their homes using garden hoses and buckets.
Director Rob Montz—who also narrates the film—frames the disaster as a case study in political negligence, arguing that state and local leaders prioritized image and ideology over emergency readiness. The trailer, shared on X by Montz, opens with the haunting question: “How did a single spark incinerate my hometown?”
Paradise Abandoned suggests that California’s leadership, overwhelmed by bureaucracy and distracted by public relations, allowed preventable devastation to unfold before the world’s eyes. As the documentary gains traction, it is already being hailed by critics as both an exposé and an indictment of a government that, when tested by fire, quite literally stood by and watched.
Original article
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