WEBVTT - A Message from Governor Newsom 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:02.199 I want to say a few words about the events 0:00:02.240 --> 0:00:05.560 of the last few days. This past weekend, federal agents 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:09.360 conducted large scale workplace raids in and around Los Angeles. 0:00:09.880 --> 0:00:13.960 Those raids continue as I speak. California is no stranger 0:00:14.000 --> 0:00:18.079 to immigration enforcement, but instead of focusing on undocumented immigrants 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:22.360 with serious criminal records and people with final deportation orders, 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:26.639 the strategy both parties have long supported this administration is 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:33.479 pushing mass deportations indiscriminately, targeting hard working immigrant families, regardless 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:37.599 of their roots or risk. What's happening right now is 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:42.240 very different than anything we've seen before. On Saturday morning, 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:45.239 when federal agents jumped out of an unmarked van near 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:48.640 a home depot parking lot, they began grabbing people, a 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:53.000 deliberate targeting of a heavily Latino suburb. A similar theme 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:56.640 played out when a clothing company was raided downtown. In 0:00:56.760 --> 0:01:01.840 other actions, a US citizen nine mon un pregnant was arrested, 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:06.720 a four year old girl taken, families, separated, friends quite 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:12.280 literally disappearing. In response, every day, Angelino's came out to 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:16.760 exercise their constitutional right to free speech and assembly to 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:21.640 protest their government's actions. In turn, the State of California 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:24.800 and the City and County of Los Angeles sent our 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:28.840 police officers to help keep the peace, and with some exceptions, 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:33.560 they were successful. Like many states, California is no stranger 0:01:33.920 --> 0:01:37.360 to this sort of unrest. We manage it regularly and 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:41.480 with our own law enforcement. But this again was different. 0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:45.839 What then ensued was a use of tear gas, flash 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:51.440 bang grenades, rubber bullets, federal agents detaining people in undermining 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:57.320 their due process rights. Donald Trump, without consulting California law 0:01:57.400 --> 0:02:02.000 enforcement leaders, commandeered two thousand of our state's National Guard 0:02:02.040 --> 0:02:06.200 members to deploy on our streets illegally and for no reason. 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:10.720 This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:15.200 a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers, and even 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:19.800 our National Guard at risk. That's when the downward spiral began. 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:23.919 He doubled down on his dangerous National Guard deployment by 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:28.040 fanning the flames even harder, and the president he did 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:32.359 it on purpose. As the news spread throughout La, anxiety 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:37.560 for family and friends ramped up. Protests started again. By night, 0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:43.079 several dozen law breakers became violent and destructive. They vandalized property, 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:45.840 they tried to assault police officers. Many of you have 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:49.080 seen the video clips of cars burning on cable news. 0:02:49.480 --> 0:02:51.960 If you incite violence, I want to be clear about this, 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:55.640 if you incite violence or destroy our communities, you're going 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:58.280 to be held to account. That kind of criminal behavior 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:01.680 will not be tolerated full stop. Already, more than two 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:04.960 hundred and twenty people have been arrested, and we're reviewing 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:08.800 tapes to build additional cases, and people will be prosecuted 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:12.760 to the fullest extent of the law. Again, thanks to 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:16.919 our law enforcement officers and the majority of Angelinos who 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:21.880 protested peacefully, the situation was winding down and was concentrated 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:26.200 in just a few square blocks downtown. With that, that's 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:30.520 not what Donald Trump wanted. He again chose escalation, He 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:35.280 chose more force, He chose theatrics over public safety. He 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:39.560 federalized another two thousand Guard members. He deployed more than 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:44.160 seven hundred active US Marines. These are the men and 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:48.880 women trained for foreign combat, not domestic law enforcement. We 0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:52.920 honor their service, we honor their bravery, but we do 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:56.640 not want our streets militarized by our own armed forces. 0:03:56.680 --> 0:04:00.840 Not in La not in California, not anywhere We're seeing 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:06.120 unmarked cars, unmarked cars in school parking, lots kids afraid 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:11.360 of attending their own graduation. Trump is pulling a military 0:04:11.440 --> 0:04:15.920 dragnet all across Los Angeles. Well beyond is stated intent 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:20.000 to just go after violent and serious criminals, his agents 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:26.840 are arresting dishwashers, gardeners, day laborers, and seamstresses. That's just weakness, 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:32.960 weakness masquerading as strength. Donald Trump's government isn't protecting our communities. 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:36.920 They're traumatizing our communities, and that seems to be the 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:41.200 entire point. California will keep fighting. We'll keep fighting on 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:44.279 behalf of our people, all of our people, including in 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:48.080 the courts. Just yesterday, we filed a legal challenge to 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:52.200 Donald Trump's reckless deployment of American troops to a major 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:56.279 American city. Today, we sought an emergency court order to 0:04:56.320 --> 0:04:59.479 stop the use of the American military to engage in 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:03.600 law enforce activities across Los Angeles. If some of us 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:07.040 could be snatched off the streets without a warrant based 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:10.720 only on suspicion or skin color, then none of us 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:15.279 are safe. Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:19.200 least able to defend themselves, but they do not stop there. 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:22.920 Trump and his loyalists, they thrive on division because it 0:05:22.960 --> 0:05:26.440 allows them to take more power and exert even more control. 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:30.560 And by the way, Trump, he's not opposed to lawlessness 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:34.600 in violence as long as it serves him. What more 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:40.400 evidence do we need than January sixth, ask everyone take 0:05:40.440 --> 0:05:44.920 time reflect on this perilous moment. A president who wants 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:49.480 to be bound by no law or constitution perpetuating a 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:54.200 unified assault on American traditions. This is a president who, 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:57.120 in just over one hundred and forty days has fired 0:05:57.160 --> 0:06:01.279 government watchdogs that could hold him accountable, accountable for corruption 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:05.160 and fraud. He's declared a war, a war on culture, 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:10.160 on history, on science, on knowledge itself. Databases quite literally 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:15.360 are vanishing. He's delegitimizing news organizations, and he's assaulting the 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:19.480 First Amendment and the threat of defunding them at threat. 0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:24.600 He's dictating what universities themselves can teach. He's targeting law 0:06:24.640 --> 0:06:27.920 firms and the judicial brands that are the foundations of 0:06:27.960 --> 0:06:31.360 an orderly in civil society. He's calling for a sitting 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:34.719 governor to be arrested for no other reason than to 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:39.039 in his own words, for getting elected, and we all 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:43.080 know this Saturday, he's ordering our American heroes, the United 0:06:43.120 --> 0:06:46.640 States military, and forcing them to put on a vulgar 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:51.680 display to celebrate his birthday, just as other failed dictators 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:55.159 have done in the past. Look, this isn't just about 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:59.560 protests here in Los Angeles. When Donald Trump sought blanket 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:02.680 authority to commandeer the National Guard, he made that order 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:06.200 apply to every state in this nation. This is about 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:10.680 all of us. This is about you. California may be first, 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:14.280 but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:20.000 Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:24.000 This moment we have feared has arrived. He's taking a 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:28.200 wrecking ball, a wrecking ball to our founding father's historic project, 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:32.800 three co equal branches of independent government. They are no 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:37.000 longer any checks and balances. Congress is nowhere to be found. 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:42.000 Speaker Johnson has completely abdicated that responsibility. The rule of 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:45.600 law has increasingly been given way to the rule of 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:49.200 don The founding fathers, they didn't lived and died to 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:52.040 see this kind of moment. It's time for all of 0:07:52.120 --> 0:07:55.720 us to stand up. Justice brandeis he said it best. 0:07:55.760 --> 0:07:59.320 In a democracy, the most important office with all due respect, 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:03.000 mister President is not the presidency, and it's certainly not governor. 0:08:03.360 --> 0:08:07.400 The most important office is office of citizen. At this moment, 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:10.440 at this moment, we all need to stand up and 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:14.520 be held to account a higher level of accountability. If 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:18.720 you exercise your First Amendment rights, please please do it peacefully. 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:22.440 I know many of you are feeling deep anxiety, stress 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:25.400 and fear, but I want you to know that you 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:29.560 are the antidote to that fear and that anxiety. What 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:33.920 Donald Trump wants most is your fealty, your silence to 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:39.600 be complicit in this moment. Do not give in to him.