California beach town's residents say officials moved the homeless into their neighborhoods to make way for Bernie Sanders rally

Residents of a California beach city are furious at their local officials after homeless people were reportedly moved into their neighborhoods to make way for a Bernie Sanders rally.

NBC-4 in Los Angeles covered the story in their "streets of shame" series about the homeless epidemic in Los Angeles.

Residents say that the city moved homeless encampments away from the beach and into their neighborhoods when Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) held a campaign rally in Venice Beach.

Sanders had a rally in Venice on December 21, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) showing her support.

Advocates for the homeless even noted the displacement at the time:

Residents told NBC-4 that the homeless encampments have changed the character of their neighborhood and they no longer feel safe.

"Our homeless have exponentially increased, and in the case of my block, have more than quadrupled in less than a month," said Daniel Wojack.

"We've gone from being a beautiful neighborhood to a somewhat dangerous one," lamented resident Lois Whitman.

Venice police lead officer Adrian Acosta rebuffed suggestions that a housing shortage was the sole reason for homelessness, and added that addiction and mental illness are what is driving the crisis.

Here's the video of the report:

Venice Residents Furious Over Homelessness | Streets of Shame | NBCLAwww.youtube.com