Trump threatens to arrest Gavin Newsom and calls LA rioters ‘insurrectionists’
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President Donald Trump said he would support arresting California Gov. Gavin Newsom and called the rioters in Los Angeles ‘insurrectionists.’
‘I would do it,’ the president said when asked about Newsom daring his administration to arrest him.
‘I like Gavin Newsom, he’s a nice guy but he’s grossly incompetent, everybody knows it,’ the president added.
Trump had even harsher words for the demonstrators.
‘The people that are causing problems are professional agitators and insurrectionists,’ he told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House. ‘They’re bad people. They should be in jail.’
The president did not respond to a question as to whether or not he’d invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act, which allows for the use of federal troops on domestic soil to quell a rebellion.
President Donald Trump said he would support the arrest of California Gov. Gavin Newsom
Riots broke out over the weekend in the mostly Latino section of Los Angeles after a series of arrests by immigration agents.
Trump nationalized California’s National Guard to respond to the situation. The president also heavily criticized Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for their lack of leadership.
Newsom, who is seen as having presidential ambitions, responded by saying the state would sue.
‘This is exactly what Donald Trump wanted,’ Newsom said on social media. ‘He flamed the fires and illegally acted to federalize the National Guard.’
‘We’re suing him.’
Earlier the California governor, a Democrat, challenged Tom Homan to put him in jail as he blamed the Trump administration for inciting the riots that have brought Los Angeles to its knees.
‘Come and arrest me. Let’s just get it over with, tough guy. I don’t give a damn,’ he told MSNBC after Homan had threatened both Newsom and Bass.
The situation in Los Angeles remained tense on Monday after violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces over immigration raids.
DHS said in a statement that the recent ICE operations resulted in the arrest of 118 immigrants.
Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said those arrested included child sex offenders, gang members and national security threats.
Authorities said the only people arrested are illegal migrants and gang members.
Critics say Trump — who has made clamping down on illegal migration a key pillar of his second term — deliberately stoked tensions by sending in California’s National Guard, a stand-by military usually controlled by the state governor.
Trump’s deployment of the National Guard was the first time a president went over the head of a state governor since 1965 at the height of the civil rights movement.
Gavin Newsom (pictured right) challenged Tom Homan to arrest him as he blamed the border czar and Donald Trump for inciting the riots that have brought Los Angeles to its knees
Law enforcement officers in Los Angeles after the riots
Newsom has hammered Trump for the move, blaming the violence on the president.
‘Donald Trump has manufactured a crisis and is inflaming conditions. If he can’t solve it, we will. To the bad actors fueling Trump’s flames — California will hold you accountable,’ Newsom posted on social media.
Trump dispatched 3,000 National Guard into the city, vowing ‘order will be restored.’
