Lancaster Mayor Rex Parris has stirred intense backlash after floating a shocking idea during a city council meeting — suggesting one way to handle homelessness would be to “give them free fentanyl… all the fentanyl they want.”
Parris, a high-profile trial attorney known for his bold statements, made the remark in February while responding to a resident who criticized his idea of concentrating the homeless population in a designated encampment. The controversial comments about the deadly drug, which has fueled a national overdose crisis, didn’t go viral until he repeated and defended them in a follow-up interview with Fox LA.
Despite public outrage, Parris stood by his words, saying he didn’t believe anyone interpreted the remarks literally and insisted he had no regrets. In the same interview, he escalated his rhetoric by expressing a desire for “a purge” of homeless individuals, adding, “I wish the president would give us a purge. Because we do need to purge these people.”
He claimed his statements were aimed at what he called the “criminal element” among the unhoused — people he alleged, without providing evidence, are responsible for a large share of violent crimes in the city. “They are responsible for most of our robberies, most of our rapes, and at least half of our murders,” Parris said.
Doubling down, he declared, “Yes, it’s harsh. But it’s my duty as mayor to protect the hardworking families of Lancaster, and I can’t do that anymore. It’s untenable. I want these people out of our city.”
Parris declined to comment to the Los Angeles Times. However, political opponents were quick to respond.
“Anyone who suggests giving fentanyl to homeless people or supports a Trump-style purge has no business in office,” said Johnathon Ervin, a Democrat who previously ran against Parris and lost. Ervin and Mark Maldonado, another former challenger, are now teaming up to launch a recall campaign.
A dominant figure in Lancaster for decades, Parris has served as mayor since 2008 and built a reputation for ambitious, sometimes bizarre proposals. His city of about 175,000 sits in northern Los Angeles County in the Mojave Desert. According to the latest Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, homelessness in the area — including Lancaster and Palmdale — rose to 6,672 people in 2024, up nearly 2,000 from the year before.
Parris’s history includes headline-grabbing stunts: proposing a trade office in Beijing and a Buddhist temple to attract Chinese investment in 2013, or pushing to make neckties optional in the workplace in 2018 due to their supposed health risks. His stance on homelessness has long leaned toward strict enforcement, with a 2021 ACLU report accusing the city of widespread abuse against the unhoused, including bulldozing camps and threatening citations.
At the time, Parris defended his administration by saying the city had done more than its share and that his goal was to protect disabled residents from unsafe encampments and street crime. Now, with public fury reignited, critics say his most recent comments have crossed a line that may cost him his position.
