Outspoken California anti-crime advocate John Alle has been a relentless force in bringing a spotlight to the lawlessness and rampant public drug abuse in tony Santa Monica—but last week, he became a victim of it himself as he was beaten unconscious and had his jaw broken while taking an afternoon walk in Palisades Park.
I've written about Alle, founder of the Santa Monica Coalition, before:
Here’s how the assault went down:
John Alle is the man who put up the now famous sign saying "Santa Monica is Not Safe" on Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade. Tuesday at 3 pm he was beaten in Palisades Park. The assailant broke Alle's jaw in two places, gave him a concussion and broke two of his teeth. Authorities transported Alle to the emergency at Ronald Reagan/UCLA Medical Center.
Alle says that he was walking North within Palisades Park, North of the Camera Obscura. He came across two men. Alle is not sure whether the assailants were armed.
The men claim Alle was taking pictures of them, but he says this is not true. He believes they were on methamphetamine. Only one was arrested because Alle was unable to definitively confirm that both participated in the attack:
Homeless man arrested for assaulting anti-crime advocate John Alle https://t.co/ptgfs5wA1w pic.twitter.com/6wyRedPSov
— Santa Monica Daily Press (SMDP) (@smdailypress) September 22, 2023
The real estate executive has been tirelessly warring against the open-air needle exchanges that are regularly conducted in the parks of the city and has extensively chronicled the overwhelming number of often violent homeless people who appear in the streets at night.
Alle was knocked unconscious for 20 minutes and only came to in the ambulance. It’s unclear if he was targeted for his positions:
Host of the Santa Monica is Not Safe Sign, Alle has been an advocate for public safety in a town inundated by homeless people. It is unknown at this time whether Alle was targeted due to his advocacy, or for some other reason, or whether the attack was simply a robbery. But Alle says he didn't know the suspect prior to the assault. "He seemed to be on meth to me," Alle said.
A fellow local community activist who writes a newsletter called "Elaine's News You Can Use" wrote in an email Friday:
I SPOKE WITH JOHN THIS MORNING AND HE GAVE ME THIS CORRECTED INFO ABOUT THE ATTACK HE SUFFERED
- John was just taking a walk in Palisades Park at 3pm
- John was NOT filming the attacker
- it was a totally unprovoked attack from behind
- The police did not test the attacker for meth or other drugs
- The attacker has a long rap sheet including a knife attack
- The attacker is being treated as the victim
- Who are the parks for? Residents or homeless druggies?
- John has head injuries - a jaw broken in 2 places & concussion
- John recently interviewed a guy at Douglas Park, a murderer just out of prison who came to Santa Monica immediately
- We are catering to the homeless and to criminals
- When will the Council address these issues?
- Residents deserve to feel safe in their parks & homes
- John will have more to say next week
- THINGS HAVE GOT TO CHANGE!
A typical sign in Santa Monica:
I visited Alle in September of 2022 and remarked that it was a glorious autumn day and that while there were a few homeless people scattered around the famed (and formerly wonderful) 3rd Street Promenade, it didn’t seem out of control. But, he explained to me, that all changes once the sun goes down:
…after 5 pm daily it’s a dangerous ‘wild west’ atmosphere where crime rules and drugged out zombies set up chop shops, and buy and sell drugs, then use the storefronts as a toilet and private sleeping quarters…
And two to four people a month are dying on the streets, alleyways and in the parking garages. I have seen three such deaths…. There are also five fires in the alleyways and trash dumpsters on average a month started by homeless and drug addicts.
Unfortunately, in this instance, the mayhem spread into the daylight hours as well, seeing that it was 3:00 in the afternoon when he was assaulted. Why is this happening in a well-to-do section of Los Angeles where the median house price in one area is a staggering $4,378,000? Not surprisingly, you can blame progressive policies, as a reader wrote in a letter to the Santa Monica Mirror:
We are being invaded by transient addicts and the dumped mentally ill who aren’t from here, but wash up, drawn by our weather, a buffet of free food, easy access to drugs, the ability to steal whatever they want from our stores, and to sleep it off unhassled in our streets, alleys, beaches, library, and parks—making them unusable to the people who actually live here. Our policies are enabling the problem and our generosity is being gamed.
Having met Alle, I know he will continue fighting against the madness that has overtaken his beloved city. That being said, my son suffered a broken jaw in an accident, and it’s no fun. We wish John well and hope that the culture of tolerating crime and letting off criminals easy—a culture that has invaded seemingly every blue city on the map—will soon be nuked out of existence by the only people who can stop this: the voters.
Here is Alle explaining how the former jewel of SoCal has descended into depravity:
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