This is an opinion piece, reflecting the views of the authoress and not PJ Media.
Imagine someone thwarting law enforcement and actively protecting and helping criminals who are not only rioting violently but also committing federal crimes by assaulting federal law enforcement. That’s exactly what the California governor and Los Angeles mayor are doing, and why should they avoid arrest just because they have important titles and the rest of us don’t? Whatever happened to blind and equal justice under the law? Donald Trump certainly thinks the law should be enforced against even important political officials, and he’s right.
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There is an unfortunate and disturbing reality in America now that would have horrified the Founding Fathers—strongly opposed as they were to titled aristocracy—that you can get away with all kinds of egregious felonies if you are an elected official or a bureaucrat. Most of the Republicans in power now are probably never going to arrest accused felons/criminals Joe Biden, Anthony Fauci, Mark Milley, and Ilhan Omar — or apparently Gavin Newsom — because they are so afraid of looking partisan. Those individuals and many others will get off with little more than a slap on the wrist, and perhaps an election or job loss. If you or I committed the same crimes, we would be facing a whole different reality of accountability. We don’t have titles to protect us.
Interestingly, however, Donald Trump did seem to endorse the arrest of Newsom on Monday when asked by a reporter about the California governor daring ICE Director Tom Homan to arrest him. “I would do it,” he said.
Reporter: “Gavin Newsom is DARING Tom Homan to come and arrest him. Should he do it?”@POTUS: “I would do it if I were Tom. I think it’s great!”
LOL. 🚨 Tom, you have the green light—go get ’em! pic.twitter.com/iik9ml0hAZ
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 9, 2025
Gov. Gavin Newsom knows perfectly well that he is facilitating the increasingly dangerous riots in California. Meanwhile, he is interfering with immigration officers and has shielded illegal aliens with sanctuary policies for years. Now, he has arrogantly dared the administration to arrest him. Homan should take him up on his offer, as Trump suggested. The riots have already spread to New York. When leaders know that there will be no serious accountability for encouraging and incentivizing crime, the crime is just going to spread. We don’t want a repeat of 2020.
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Related: The L.A. Riots and Democrats’ Long History of Political Violence
This is the true face of the far-left. It’s time to realize they are the biggest threat to democracy. SHARE – The media will not tell you the truth about the riots in LA 👇
— PeterSweden (@PeterSweden7) Jun 8, 2025
Homan warned Newsom and co. on NBC, “It’s a felony to knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien. It’s a felony to impede law enforcement from doing their job.” Trump later followed that up by threatening charges against officials who crossed the legal line. Homan says that Bass has not yet crossed the line, though I think she has, since she has interfered with federal law enforcement in LA for years. At the very least, however, I think Newsom has certainly crossed that line — he’s even bragging about it. Trump definitely thinks Newsom crossed the line. It’s time for arrests.
Newsom’s response was absolutely dripping with arrogance, disdain, and confidence that he is completely safe from accountability. “Trump’s border czar is threatening to arrest me for speaking out. Come and get me, tough guy. I don’t give a damn. It won’t stop me from standing up for California,” he sneered.
The only honest part of that statement is when he said he didn’t give a damn, which pretty much describes the entirety of Democrat policy making. Newsom figures, however, that it is entirely safe for him to mock Homan because he assumes that Homan will never follow through on the administration’s threat of arrest. Unfortunately, he is likely correct.
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According to 18 U.S. Code § 111, to which Homan was apparently referring, anyone who “forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes with” designated federal officers has committed a criminal offense. If you assault the officer with a deadly weapon, you could face up to 20 years in prison. All of that describes the LA rioters. But arguably, Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass have also violated the law, because they have actively interfered with federal officers trying to perform their duty and protected those intimidating and attacking the officers.
Indeed, that isn’t the only federal law that Newsom and Bass arguably broke. 8 U.S. Code § 1324 also states that anyone who “encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law” or “conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien” violates the law. That would seem to describe sanctuary policies like California’s perfectly.
Since California is a sanctuary state and Los Angeles a sanctuary city, Newsom and Bass have been interfering with federal officers for years. They defied federal immigration authorities to shield foreign criminals. Homan, before backing off on his previous comments, highlighted as much, saying, “If [Newsom] cared about public safety in the state of California, he would not have a sanctuary for criminals — where criminals get released to the streets of this state every day because of his policies.”
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Why should politicians and bureaucrats who, according to our democratic republican system of government, are supposed to work for us, avoid charges and arrests simply because they have titles in front of their names? Donald Trump and his administration need to uphold the law in a truly just and American way. They must charge the Democrat California officials who are putting countless lives at risk by illegal interference with law enforcement and encouragement of extreme violence.
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