California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote to supporters, branding Trump’s actions a “theatrical display of toughness from an increasingly unhinged president”.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has accused Donald Trump of deliberately trying to escalate tensions in Los Angeles.
Protests erupted over the weekend over a wave of immigration raids in the city – part of the Trump administration’s push to deport undocumented people by the millions.
The White House had already sparked fury by sending 2,000 of the National Guard – America’s state-based military force – into Los Angeles in a bid to quell the unrest, a move criticised as both unhelpful and likely unlawful.
The protests started out peacefully – and while there was some vandalism, burning of cars and looting, most of the city was unaffected by them.
Yet Trump ramped up the deployment – sending another 2,000 National Guard and 700 US Marines to the city last night.
Today, Newsom wrote to supporters, branding Trump’s troop movements a “theatrical display of toughness from an increasingly unhinged president”.
He went on to claim the troop deployments were “DESIGNED to escalate tensions and violence in Los Angeles that he hopes will spread to other parts of the state and country.”
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Yesterday President Trump appeared to call for Newsom to be arrested.
“I would do it if I were Tom [Holman, Trump’s border czar,” he told reporters outside the White House.
Newsom responded in a post on X: “The President of the United States just called for the arrest of a sitting Governor. This is a day I hoped I would never see in America.”
Asked later what crime Newsom had committed, Trump – a convicted felon himself – said: “The crime he committed? Well, the primary crime is running for Governor, because he’s done such a bad job. What he’s done to that state is what Biden did to this country. And that’s pretty bad. It’s the wrong philosophy.”
Meanwhile Democratic members of California’s congressional delegation have accused Trump of creating a “manufactured crisis.”
“It’s a deliberate attempt by Trump to incite unrest, test the limits of executive power and distract from the lawlessness of his administration,” said Rep. Jimmy Gomez, who organised a press conference at the US Capitol on Tuesday morning.
Rep. Jimmy Panetta said that Trump’s decision to send in the military was designed to “give him the image and give him the fight and give him the pictures that he wants.”
Panetta said the delegation would stand with peaceful protesters, but those who are not peaceful are going to pay the consequences.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi contrasted Trump’s actions now with his handling of the Jan. 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol when law enforcement officers were being beaten.
“We begged the president of the United States to send in the National Guard. He would not do it,” Pelosi said.
The deployment appeared to be the first time in decades that a state’s National Guard was activated without a request from its governor, a significant escalation against those who have sought to protest against Trump’s mass deportations.
The last time the National Guard was activated without a governor’s permission was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
In a directive on Saturday, Trump invoked a legal provision allowing him to deploy federal service members when there is “a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”
But California’s Attorney General has since filed a lawsuit arguing the deployment is unlawful.
On Monday, thousands flooded the streets around City Hall for a union rally ahead of a hearing for arrested labor leader David Huerta, who was freed a few hours later on a $50,000 bond. Huerta’s arrest Friday while protesting immigration raids has become a rallying cry for people angry over the administration’s crackdown. He is the president of the Service Employees International Union California, which represents thousands of the state’s janitors, security officers and other workers.
Early protests had a calm and even joyful atmosphere at times, with people dancing to live music and buoyed by Huerta’s release.
Protesters linked hands in front of a line of police officers outside the downtown federal detention centre where Huerta was being held. Religious leaders joined the protesters, working with organisers at times to de-escalate moments of tension.
There was a heavy law enforcement presence in the few square blocks, while most in the immense city of some 4 million people went about their normal business on peaceful streets.