Rep. Maxine Waters warns LA Times reporter not to write story about city’s homeless crisis

California Rep. Maxine Waters reportedly attempted to prevent the publishing of an LA Times piece highlighting the city’s homeless crisis, telling the reporter “You’ll hurt yourself and the community trying to put this [article] together.”

LA Times investigative reporter Connor Sheets wrote about a March 25 incident at which hundreds of homeless applicants crashed an event held by Fathers and Mothers Who Care, which was meant to assist homeless families with applications for housing.

Due to an erroneous Facebook post, the crowd had been led to believe they would receive section 8 housing vouchers if they arrived at the event.

Rep. Maxine Waters appeared at the event, and when the crowd became angry after organizers turned them away, Waters told them to come back the following Tuesday with their paperwork filled out, and became upset when a housing advocacy group asked her about the mix-up.

“Excuse me, there’s nobody in Washington who works for their people any f— harder than I do,” she said. “I don’t want to hear this. No, no, no.”

After the event, when the LA Times contacted Waters for comments on the incident, the congresswoman requested the story not be published, and warned Sheets not to write the piece.

“You’ll hurt yourself and the community trying to put this together without background,” she said. “I don’t want you to start trying to write it, you won’t understand it.” Waters said of the confusion at the event that the crowd was “confused” and they “just showed up.”