FBI raids home of LA deputy mayor over alleged bomb threat against city hall

The home of LA’s deputy mayor was raided by FBI agents on Tuesday, with the official being placed on leave as a result as he has been accused of being the source of a September bomb threat against his own city hall, FOX 11 in Los Angeles reported.

The FBI did not arrest anyone during the search but on Wednesday, LA Mayor Karen Bass’s office announced that Williams’ is has been placed on leave: "The Mayor's Office was notified that the FBI searched the home of Deputy Mayor Brian Williams yesterday as part of an investigation into a bomb threat he allegedly made against City Hall earlier this year," LA deputy mayor of communications Zach Seidl said in the statement, according to Fox News Digital. "He was immediately placed on administrative leave. The Mayor takes this matter very seriously."

Seidl added that when the city reported the bomb threat to the Los Angeles Police Department they conducted an investigation but said the threat did not pose an imminent danger to the building. After further assessing the matter, the LAPD asked the FBI to handle the case.

The LAPD said that they believed Williams was probably the "source of the threat." The statement read: "Due to the department’s working relationship with Mr. Williams, the investigation was referred to the FBI. The FBI remains the investigating agency."

The FBI did not release any information about its subsequent investigation nor of anything uncovered during its search of Williams’ home. Williams has been employed by the mayor’s office since March 2023 in a role that placed him in a key liaison role with the LAPD, the LA Fire Department and other emergency preparedness and safety departments in city hall. Before becoming the deputy mayor, Williams had worked for seven years as the executive director of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission

Bass has promised to make LA a sanctuary city before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. New LAPD Chief Jim McConnell says his officers will not comply with Trump’s stated objective of beginning mass deportations of illegal immigrants once taking office.