Don’t Forget Newsom’s Role Stoking L.A. Lawlessness

Before it’s memory-holed, let’s recall that Gavin Newsom (and his loose-lipped, fast-fingered press staff) also fueled the rioting that continues to plague Los Angeles. Even as the city’s police chief declared that rioters had “overwhelmed” his officers, Newsom discounted the violence and set the parameters for a revolutionary response to federal authority.

On June 6, as federal agents began high-profile arrests in Los Angeles, Newsom held up California’s state and local sanctuary laws as an impenetrable Maginot Line against federal enforcement. Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar, reminded California officials, including Newsom himself: “It’s a felony to knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien. It’s a felony to impede law enforcement doing their job.” Newsom responded with a dare. “That kind of bloviating is exhausting,” he said in a moment of just obvious Freudian projection. “So, Tom, arrest me. Let’s go.” (Even feckless L.A. Mayor Karen Bass was more diplomatic: “I am the mayor of the city; the last thing in the world I’m going to do is get into a brawl with the federal government.”)

About the Author

Will Swaim

Will Swaim is the CEO of the California Policy Center and, with David L. Bahnsen, a co-host of National Review’s Radio Free California podcast.

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Before it’s memory-holed, let’s recall that Gavin Newsom (and his loose-lipped, fast-fingered press staff) also fueled the rioting that continues to plague Los Angeles. Even as the city’s police chief declared that rioters had “overwhelmed” his officers, Newsom discounted the violence and set the parameters for a revolutionary response to federal authority.

On June 6, as federal agents began high-profile arrests in Los Angeles, Newsom held up California’s state and local sanctuary laws as an impenetrable Maginot Line against federal enforcement. Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar, reminded California officials, including Newsom himself: “It’s a felony to knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien. It’s a felony to impede law enforcement doing their job.” Newsom responded with a dare. “That kind of bloviating is exhausting,” he said in a moment of just obvious Freudian projection. “So, Tom, arrest me. Let’s go.” (Even feckless L.A. Mayor Karen Bass was more diplomatic: “I am the mayor of the city; the last thing in the world I’m going to do is get into a brawl with the federal government.”)