Pete Buttigieg Distances Himself From South Bend Housing Authority After FBI Raid

2020 presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg (D), mayor of South Bend, Indiana, could face another potential scandal at home, as his office distanced himself from the city’s housing authority, after a Wednesday FBI raid on the agency.

“The Mayor’s Office became aware through local media reports of today’s law enforcement action at the Housing Authority. While the Housing Authority is not part of the City administration, the Mayor is concerned and will be closely following the situation,” his office said in a statement Wednesday, directing all inquiries to the housing authority.

The office of the housing authority did not immediately return a request for comment or more information about the raid Thursday.

According to local news reports , FBI agents and local police raided the housing authority office Wednesday. The housing authority board president said a “complaint” had sparked the investigation, local outlet WNDU reported. No arrests have been reported. 

In a statement, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office for northern Indiana confirmed that “there is federal law enforcement activity going on in the South Bend area,” but would not go into specifics, citing law enforcement procedures.

The city’s housing authority has faced years of complaints from residents on poor living conditions, and reports of mismanagement and financial woes, including the misuse of federal funding, according to the South Bend Tribune.

In June, Buttigieg faced scrutiny for his handling of a fatal shooting of a Black man by a white police officer in South Bend. The mayor briefly left the 2020 campaign trail to return home and address the controversy.

Later that month at the first Democratic primary debate, Buttigieg admitted that as mayor, he had failed to ensure a diverse police force. Black people make up 26.4% of the city’s population , but only 5.4% of the police force.

“I couldn’t get it done,” he said at the time. “My community is in anguish right now because of an officer shooting... It’s a mess, and we’re hurting.”

The officer resigned  in mid-July.