McCarthy says office was vandalized by thieves who threw ‘boulder,’ stole equipment

Two men broke into the Bakersfield, California, office of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Saturday night and stole office equipment, the California Republican said Tuesday.

The incident comes amid a political environment of rising partisan tensions two weeks away from November’s midterm elections, although McCarthy was careful to note that it remains unclear whether there was any political motive behind the break-in.

In an interview with Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo, McCarthy said the incident took place shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday.

“An individual threw a great big boulder through, entered the office, and another person entered as well, and they stole some equipment,” McCarthy said. “I don’t know if this is politically driven. It might be driven more just from the idea of stealing in the office.”

McCarthy first made mention of the incident in an Instagram post Monday night.

“Does anyone know these two guys? They threw a boulder thru our office window and took office equipment,” McCarthy said in the post.

One photo shared by the lawmaker shows a large rock on the floor in the middle of his office, surrounded by shattered glass and debris. He also shared what appear to be surveillance photos of two men, one wearing shorts, a T-shirt, a baseball cap and a pink backpack, the other wearing dark pants and a light-colored, long-sleeved shirt.

The Bakersfield Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation of the incident.

McCarthy is the No. 2 Republican in the House; he is mounting a campaign for the top spot in House GOP leadership after Speaker Paul Ryan’s, R-Wis., departure at the end of his current term.

In his interview with Bartiromo, McCarthy said that security camera footage showed the two men “literally breaking in, walking in, and stealing.”

He claimed that California Democrats “have changed the laws where they give this early release, or you don’t have any jail time, and it’s really moved the crime rate in California up.”

A report by the Public Policy Institute of California shows that the state’s property crime rate decreased in 2017. In Kern County, which includes Bakersfield, the rate decreased by more than 10 percent, according to the report.