After President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to the Los Angeles area in response to violent protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., suggested that he is unwilling to comply with federal authorities.
Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said of Newsom’s comments, “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 by taunting Homan to carry out the arrest.
“He’s a tough guy. Why doesn’t he do that? He knows where to find me,” Newsom said. “That kind of bloviating is exhausting. So, Tom, arrest me. Let’s go.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also dismissed Homan’s warning.
“He had absolutely positively no reason to even say that,” Bass said. “I spoke to him last night. He understands that 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. So that just made no sense. There was no reason for that comment.”
On his way back from Camp David, Trump echoed Homan’s warning.
“Officials who stand in the way of law and order, yeah, they will face judges,” the president told reporters Sunday.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Los Angeles agencies will “take such action necessary to liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion, and put an end to these Migrant riots,” Trump said on Truth Social.
“A once great American City, Los Angeles, has been invaded and occupied by Illegal Aliens and Criminals,” Trump said. “Now violent, insurrectionist mobs are swarming and attacking our Federal Agents to try and stop our deportation operations—But these lawless riots only strengthen our resolve.”
ICE began the raids Friday, and agitators took to the streets in downtown Los Angeles and Paramount, California. Democrats condemned both the ICE raids and the National Guard response to the riots.
Former presidential nominee Kamala Harris attacked Trump’s actions and defended the protests as “overwhelmingly peaceful.”
“Los Angeles is my home. And like so many Americans, I am appalled at what we are witnessing on the streets of our city,” Harris said in a statement. “Deploying the National Guard is a dangerous escalation meant to provoke chaos. In addition to the recent ICE raids in Southern California and across our nation, it is part of the Trump Administration’s cruel, calculated agenda to spread panic and division.”
“This Administration’s actions are not about public safety — they’re about stoking fear. Fear of a community demanding dignity and due process,” she continued. “Protest is a powerful tool — essential in the fight for justice. And as the LAPD, Mayor, and Governor have noted, demonstrations in defense of our immigrant neighbors have been overwhelmingly peaceful. I continue to support the millions of Americans who are standing up to protect our most fundamental rights and freedoms.”
However, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a Sunday evening news conference that the violence was “getting increasingly worse and more violent.”
“This violence that I’ve seen, it’s disgusting,” McDonnell said. “It’s escalated now, since the beginning of this incident. What we saw the first night was bad. What we’ve seen subsequent to that is getting increasingly worse and more violent.”
This article was originally published at www.dailysignal.com
