'Brazen Abuse Of Power': California Governor Gavin Newsom Slams Trump's Response To L.A. Anti-ICE Protests

Forbes Breaking News

In remarks last night, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) slammed President Trump's response to anti-ICE protests.

Transcript

00:00Donald Trump, without consulting California law enforcement leaders,

00:06commandeered 2,000 of our state's National Guard members to deploy on our streets,

00:12illegally and for no reason.

00:14This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation,

00:20putting our people, our officers, and even our National Guard at risk.

00:25That's when the downward spiral began.

00:28He doubled down on his dangerous National Guard deployment by fanning the flames even harder.

00:34And the president, he did it on purpose.

00:40Thanks to our law enforcement officers and the majority of Angelenos who protested peacefully,

00:46the situation was winding down and was concentrated in just a few square blocks downtown.

00:53But that, that's not what Donald Trump wanted.

00:56He again chose escalation.

00:58He chose more force.

01:00He chose theatrics over public safety.

01:02He federalized another 2,000 Guard members.

01:05He deployed more than 700 active U.S. Marines.

01:10These are the men and women trained for foreign combat, not domestic law enforcement.

01:16We honor their service.

01:17We honor their bravery.

01:19But we do not want our streets militarized by our own armed forces.

01:24Not in L.A., not in California, not anywhere.

01:27Trump is pulling a military dragnet all across Los Angeles, well beyond his stated intent to just go after violent and serious criminals.

01:41His agents are arresting dishwashers, gardeners, day laborers, and seamstresses.

01:47That's just weakness.

01:49Weakness masquerading as strength.

01:54Donald Trump's government isn't protecting our communities.

01:57They're traumatizing our communities.

01:59And that seems to be the entire point.

02:02California will keep fighting.

02:04It will keep fighting on behalf of our people, all of our people, including in the courts.

02:09If some of us could be snatched off the streets without a warrant, based only on suspicion or skin color, then none of us are safe.

02:22Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves.

02:27But they do not stop there.

02:30Trump and his loyalists, they thrive on division because it allows them to take more power and exert even more control.

02:37And by the way, Trump, he's not opposed to lawlessness and violence as long as it serves him.

02:44What more evidence do we need than January 6th?

02:50What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty, your silence to be complicit in this moment.

02:57Do not give in to him.

03:00Democracy is under assault before our eyes.

03:06This moment we have feared has arrived.

03:09He's taking a wrecking ball.

03:11A wrecking ball to our founding fathers' historic project.

03:14Three co-equal branches of independent government.

03:18There are no longer any checks and balances.

03:20Congress is nowhere to be found.

03:23Speaker Johnson has completely abdicated that responsibility.

03:27The rule of law has increasingly been given way to the rule of Don.

03:32He's on.

03:33He's on.

03:34He's on.

03:35He's on.

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