Former LAFD officer sues Bass, says mayor should pay out of pocket for campaign speeches

Former Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley is suing Mayor Karen Bass personally, alleging that, during her re-election campaign, Bass defamed her and damaged Crowley’s reputation by blaming her for the Palisades fire response.

Crowley sued the city in February, saying Bass “orchestrated a campaign of revenge” and removed Crowley as fire chief to prosecute amid growing criticism of the mayor’s decision to attend an event in Ghana on Jan. 7 as the deadly Palisades fire escalated into extreme red flag fire conditions.

Crowley’s new lawsuit Tuesday accuses Bass personally of defamation. In it, he argues that comments made by the mayor on the campaign trail are not protected by federal immunity and that Bass should pay damages out of his own pocket. The former chief is seeking unspecified economic damages and compensation.

In the complaint, Crowley claims that Bass spread lies to protect his reputation in the campaign, “knowing that his statements about the Palisades Fire, about LAFD resources and deployment decisions, and about Crowley, were false.”

Bass “wanted to avoid accountability by impeachment and lying — including lying that he was unaware of the impending national weather event,” the lawsuit said.

According to Crowley’s attorneys, Genie Harrison and Mia Munro, the mayor deliberately lied and as a candidate, they say he is not protected by federal immunity.

Crowley’s lawsuit points to a May 6 televised debate in which he said Bass blamed him for malfunctioning fire engines, which the former chief said were not repaired due to a lack of money for mechanics.

“Bass falsely accused Crowley, despite Crowley publicly and privately disputing Bass’s budget cuts that left fire engines out of commission,” the suit says. It goes on to say that Bass told viewers that Crowley sent home 1,000 firefighters who would have been at the scene of the fire, which is false, but they “cruelly and deliberately exploited the spread of false information. …

“Through his actions, Bass chose his personal interest over transparency and truth, over the interests and safety of the people of Los Angeles, over the interests and safety of thousands of firefighters who risk their lives every day to protect the people of Los Angeles, including Crowley, a firefighter who has served the LAFD for more than 26 years,” the lawsuit said.

Bass fired Crowley on Feb. 21, 2025, six weeks after the fire. At the beginning of the firefighting efforts, the mayor praised Crowley, but later said he found out that other firefighters could have been deployed the day the fire started and that’s why Crowley was fired. He said Crowley rejected a request to prepare a report on the fire which is an important part of the investigation into what happened and why.

The Palisades fire started in the early hours of Jan. 7, 2025, during the Santa Ana hurricane, killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes, with damages reaching millions of dollars. Although authorities suspect a Florida man who is currently on trial started the fire, they say it was actually a rekindling of the Jan. 1, LAFD brass and mayor decisions before, during and after Jan. 7 have been processed.

According to records obtained by The Times, shortly before releasing the report after the Palisades fire, the Los Angeles Fire Department released a confidential memo detailing plans to protect Bass and others from “reputational damage.” The 13-page document is in an LAFD directory and includes email addresses for department officials, representatives from Bass’s office, and public relations consultants hired to help prepare messages about the fire.

Amid growing criticism of understaffed firefighters, the chaotic evacuation of Pacific Palisades and water shortages caused in part by a local reservoir left empty for repairs, The Times reported that a recent city report was altered to avoid criticism of the LAFD’s failure to supply more engines and other engines.

Crowley, his attorneys said, disclosed to the public that “the budget cuts weakened the department’s preparedness and endangered the safety of the public and firefighters.” They said Crowley’s repeated warnings were ignored and that Bass retaliated by firing him.

Crowley’s attorneys said their client has repeatedly said the LAFD’s resource and staffing problem was worsening before the fire and warned that aging infrastructure, an increase in emergency calls and shrinking staff have left the city vulnerable.

Three days after the fire, Crowley told a local television news station that his department was “whining about being underfunded,” prompting Bass to call Crowley into his office, according to the lawsuit.

Before Crowley was ousted, the city’s chief financial analyst retracted his budget-cutting narrative, saying spending at the Fire Department increased during that budget year — largely because of an increased firefighter package. That increase added about $53 million to the department’s budget.