Newsom Blasts Trump As Wannabe Dictator Over Military Crackdown In Los Angeles

California Governor Gavin Newsom has launched a scathing attack on U.S. President Donald Trump amid the ongoing L.A. riots.

Newsom slammed Trump’s decision to deploy 4,000 members of the National Guard and an additional 700 active-duty Marines to the city.

Speaking in a press conference, Newsom claimed Trump was inflaming tensions on purpose—as an emergency curfew was placed on the city between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The protests were sparked by extensive Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at workplaces in and around Los Angeles over the weekend.

Newsom said the raids, which are still continuing, failed to target undocumented immigrants with serious criminal records or those with final deportation orders.

The administration was instead “indiscriminately targeting hard-working immigrant families regardless of their roots or risk,” Newsom said.

He confirmed one of ICE’s targets Saturday was a Home Depot store in a Latino community, while another was a clothing manufacturer.

Dishwashers, gardeners, day laborers, and seamstresses were among those arrested by ICE, Newsom said.

“A U.S. citizen nine months pregnant was arrested—a four-year-old girl taken. Families separated, friends, quite literally, disappearing,” he said.

In response, people came out to exercise their right to protest, and local law enforcement was sent “to help keep the peace.”

Trump initially deployed 2,000 National Guard members during the unrest and called for the arrest of anyone wearing a face mask.

“Like many states, California is no stranger to this sort of unrest,” Newsom said.

“We manage it regularly and with our own law enforcement. But this, again, was different.

“What then ensued was the use of tear gas, flash-bang grenades, rubber bullets, federal agents detaining people and undermining their due process rights.”

“Donald Trump, without consulting California law enforcement leaders, commandeered 2,000 of our state’s National Guard members to deploy on our streets, illegally and for no reason,” he continued.

“This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers, and even our National Guard at risk.”

This was when things went on a downward spiral, Newsom claimed, as he alleged Trump made things worse on purpose and inflamed an already tense situation.

By night, several dozen people became “violent and destructive,” vandalizing property, setting vehicles on fire, and attempting to assault police officers.

“If you incite violence or destroy our communities, you’re going to be held to account,” Newsom said. “That kind of criminal behavior will not be tolerated.”

More than 220 people have been arrested so far, and this figure is expected to rise.

Newsom said when the situation was “winding down” and was concentrated in just a few square blocks downtown, Trump federalized another 2,000 National Guard members.

“That’s not what Donald Trump wanted. He again chose escalation. He chose more force. He chose theatrics over public safety.”

Alongside the National Guard were more than 700 active-duty Marines.

As streets became “militarized,” Newsom said unmarked cars were showing up in school parking lots, scaring children from attending their own graduations.

The governor has filed a legal challenge over the National Guard deployment and has vowed to keep fighting in the courts.

A federal judge declined to issue an immediate restraining order against the deployment, but scheduled a hearing for Thursday to allow both parties to present their arguments.

“If 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,” Newsom said.

“Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves, but they do not stop there.

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

While the president presents a tough-on-crime approach, Newsom pointed to the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol after Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.

Around 1,500 people who took part in the riot and were charged or convicted were pardoned by Trump when he took office in January.

A small number of those convicted had their sentences commuted rather than pardoned.

“Trump is not opposed to lawlessness and violence as long as it serves him,” Newsom added. “What more evidence do we need than January 6?”

He urged people to reflect on the “perilous moment” and further attacked Trump for actions he’s made so far in his presidency, namely targeting media organizations and universities.

Referring to Trump saying his arrest would be “great,” Newsom said: “He’s calling for a sitting governor to be arrested for no other reason than, in his own words, for getting elected.”

He also described the military parade to celebrate Trump’s 79th birthday on Saturday as a “vulgar display” similar to what “other failed dictators have done in the past.”

Trump has threatened “very big force” on anyone protesting the parade, which coincides with the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army’s founding.

“This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next,” Newsom said.

“Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived.”

Trump has defended his decision to send the National Guard to L.A., saying if he didn’t act, “L.A. would be burning right now.”

He also claimed protestors were being “paid” and described them as “animals.”

“If I didn’t ‘SEND IN THE TROOPS’ to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now, much like 25,000 houses burned to the ground in L.A. due to an incompetent Governor and Mayor,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

As protests enter their fourth consecutive day, ICE continues to carry out raids across L.A., posting images of detained immigrants on its official social media accounts.