As the Los Angeles mayoral race enters its final months, the University of Southern California pulled out of hosting a televised debate between the candidates, citing "escalating tensions in modern politics," according to the Los Angeles Times.
Instead, the event will take place at the Skirball Cultural Center, according to interviews and emails obtained by the Times.
An Aug. 11 email reveals that "senior administrators" nixed hosting the event, citing "escalating tensions in modern politics especially as the November election approaches," as well as a personnel shortage and the cost of security.
The TV debate on Sept. 21 will be the first of the general election season between Rep. Karen Bass and businessman Rick Caruso and will feature a debate between the candidates for LA County sheriff beforehand.
The email followed an incident at an LA City Council meeting in which a public speaker climbed over a bench to challenge council President Nury Martinez. Police then swarmed the chamber and an audience member was arrested, according to the Times. It was the second time in two weeks that protesters fumed about the expansion of a city law banning homeless encampments and delayed a council vote.
The incident was listed in the Aug. 11 email as one reason why USC could not host the debate.
An email from the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future said the decision was reached after a "formal threat assessment" and was motivated by "the desire to keep potential disruptions at bay," with students on campus for the fall semester.
According to the email, the Dornsife Center "did not make the cancellation decision" but was "bound by it."
Over the past winter and spring, protestors in LA expressed anger over the state of the city and elected officials' views by disrupting and, in some cases, shutting down several candidate events.
Out of three televised mayoral debates during primary season, two were interrupted and resulted in the removal of audience members.
The Dornsife Center, along with the Times and Fox 11, hosted one of the three primary TV debates, which included five candidates and went off without incident.
Bass, a Democrat, took the top spot in the June 7 primary, beating Republican-turned-Democrat Caruso by 7 percentage points, according to the Times. Polling by the Times and UC Berkley's Institute of Governmental Studies since then found she leads the businessman by 12 points — 43% to 31% among registered voters — with 24% undecided.
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