Joe Rogan’s offhand joke about “shooting homeless people” in Los Angeles sparked outrage on Twitter as the Spotify podcaster was accused of inciting violence against the unhoused.
A viral clip circulating on social media shows Rogan interviewing a guest, comedian Tom Segura, during his July 14 episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
As both men smoke cigars, they discuss the burgeoning homelessness problem in Los Angeles.
Segura mentions a recent federal court ruling that barred the city from taking possession of a homeless person’s personal property.
The ruling was made in response to a lawsuit by advocates for the homeless who sued Los Angeles for a city ordinance that allowed it to immediately remove and dispose of an item stored in a public area if it did not fit into a 60-gallon container.
Segura told Rogan that the federal court ruling made it more difficult for the city to prevent homeless encampments from springing up.
“When you see stuff like that on the streets, at least in Los Angeles or California, that’s protected property,” Segura said.
“Like by law. That’s that’s person’s property by law.”
Rogan responded: “Oh, a homeless person’s property is protected?”
“Absolutely. If you were to try to move that or take that…,” Segura said, before Rogan interjected.
“You’d get arrested. Hilarious,” Rogan said.
“But they wouldn’t arrest you if you shot somebody. Maybe you should just go shoot the homeless people.”
“I like your ideas,” Segura said.
“And if nobody claims it. I mean nobody does anything about violent crime in LA anymore,” Rogan said.
Reaction on Twitter was scathing.
