Mayor R. Rex Parris of Lancaster, California has ignited a firestorm of controversy with incendiary comments made during a February 25 city council meeting, where he flippantly suggested the city’s homelessness crisis could be solved by giving the homeless population “all the fentanyl they want.” And just in case that wasn’t enough to blow the lid off the room, he followed it up with a call for a federal “purge.”
Yes, a sitting mayor floated the idea of offering a lethal drug to vulnerable people and then called on the federal government to “purge” a portion of its citizens. You couldn’t make this stuff up.
“What I want to do is give them free fentanyl. That’s what I want to do,” Parris said in response to a resident’s question. “I want to give them all the fentanyl they want.”
NEW: California mayor says he wants give homeless people “all the fentanyl they want,” doubles down on his comments after facing backlash.
Woman: “It sounds like you want to kind of enclose all these homeless people in one territory.”
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris: “What I want… pic.twitter.com/mOBRW6k2tl
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 21, 2025
Predictably, outrage followed. But Parris didn’t back down—in fact, he doubled down in an interview with Fox 11, saying his comments were aimed at the “criminal element” within the homeless population. “They are responsible for most of our robberies, most of our rapes, and at least half of our murders,” he claimed, without providing evidence.
Later clarifying that his statement wasn’t meant to be taken literally, Parris argued that fentanyl is already so easy to get that handing it out wouldn’t make a difference. That’s not exactly the kind of nuanced leadership most communities are looking for, especially in a city grappling with one of California’s most complex and visible crises.
Parris—who has been no stranger to controversy in the past—now faces a recall effort led by residents accusing him of prioritizing personal gain over public service. The petition slams his record on transparency and labels his administration as one that “divides and exploits” rather than uplifts.
Though the recall campaign has only reached 6% of its goal of 20,000 signatures, the backlash over Parris’ recent comments could reinvigorate public interest. Critics say the mayor’s remarks reflect a disturbing disregard for human life and a willingness to scapegoat society’s most vulnerable for political convenience.
While Parris insists he’s just doing his job to “protect hardworking families,” many believe he’s crossed a moral and political line. Either way, Lancaster’s mayor has made himself a national symbol—for better or worse—of how not to handle the homelessness crisis.
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