A new report in The New York Times is examining in close proximity the extent to which Vice President Kamala Harris’ home is in danger due to the wildfires that have been raging across Los Angeles. In Brentwood, a wealthy neighborhood just a few miles east of the Palisades and home to many celebrities, has so far remained untouched. Even so, security was particularly tight on Tuesday afternoon at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Kenter Avenue, near the eastern edge of the evacuation zone, according to the report.
Journalists, who are typically allowed past such checkpoints, were turned away by National Guard officers and redirected to the next one. Meanwhile, Los Angeles Police Department officers, who often permit residents to briefly return home to collect essentials, informed people they would have to wait another day.
The heightened security led to speculation, as just a few blocks north of the checkpoint, within the evacuation zone, stands a four-bedroom house owned by Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff.
Two days earlier, police detained two individuals near the Harris-Emhoff property after responding to a 4:40 a.m. 9-1-1 call reporting a possible burglary in progress, according to KTLA. The individuals, whose names were not released, were found in violation of curfew but were released after no evidence of a crime was uncovered. Neither Harris nor Emhoff was present at the time of the incident; Harris was in Washington, D.C., after attending the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter. Over the weekend, she shared clips of a video call with California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
The news of the potential break-in surprised some who were unaware that Harris has a residence in Southern California. Her political career in the state largely unfolded in the Bay Area, where she served as a prosecutor in Alameda County and later as San Francisco’s district attorney.
However, her Southern California ties trace back to 2013, when she was set up on a blind date with Emhoff, a corporate lawyer with entertainment industry clients. The couple married the following year. Emhoff purchased the Brentwood home in 2012 for $2.7 million, and after their marriage, it was placed in a joint trust. Property records confirm that they now co-own the house.
