Newsom says Los Angeles rioters will be prosecuted, slams Trump for ‘traumatizing our communities’

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, on Tuesday said anti-ICE protesters who engage in violence will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law while also criticizing President Donald Trump for a “brazen abuse of power” in sending troops to respond to demonstrations.

Newsom said during a news address that 220 people have already been arrested in connection with the Los Angeles riots and that officials are reviewing footage to build additional cases.

The governor also thanked individuals who protested peacefully during demonstrations against deportations and ICE raids on migrant workers at local businesses.

Peaceful assembly is not what Trump wanted, the governor said, accusing the president of choosing “escalation,” “more force” and “theatrics over public safety.”

“Just yesterday, we filed a legal challenge to Donald Trump’s reckless deployment of American troops to a major American city,” the governor said Tuesday. “Today, we sought an emergency court order to stop the use of the American military to engage in law enforcement activities across Los Angeles.”

The governor said if some people could be snatched off the streets without a warrant based only on suspicion or skin color, then nobody is safe.

“Trump and his loyalists, they thrive on division because it allows them to take more power and exert even more control,” he said. “And by the way, Trump, he’s not opposed to lawlessness and violence as long as it serves him. What more evidence do we need than January 6th?”

Newsom also cited border czar Tom Homan’s threat to arrest him for alleged immigration interference, an idea Trump later endorsed, saying Newsom’s “primary crime was running for governor because he’s done such a bad job.”

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

The governor had previously dared Homan to make good on his threat, saying “arrest me” and “come and get me, tough guy.” But Homan eventually backed down, admitting that Newsom had not done anything to warrant his arrest.

Newsom concluded his remarks on Tuesday by warning that Trump’s actions he says threaten state sovereignty and democracy are not exclusive to California.

“When Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard, he made that order apply to every state in this nation,” Newsom said. “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 to moxie is under assault. Before our eyes, this moment we have feared has arrived. He’s taking a wrecking ball. A wrecking ball to our Founding Fathers’ historic project.”

“If you exercise your First Amendment rights, please, please do it peacefully,” he continued. “I know many of you are feeling deep anxiety, stress and fear, but I want you to know that you are the antidote to that fear and that anxiety. What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty, your silence to be complicit in this moment. Do not give in to him.”