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."

NEWSOM FILES EMERGENCY MOTION TO 'IMMEDIATELY BLOCK' TRUMP'S USE OF MILITARY TO STOP LA RIOTS

Newsom and the president have taken jabs at each other in recent days over the Trump administration's move to deploy thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of active-duty Marines to Los Angeles, with the governor saying it threatens state sovereignty, wastes resources and worsens the situation, while Trump argues that the move was necessary to quell any violence.

"These are the men and women trained for foreign combat, not domestic law enforcement," Newsom said Tuesday. "We honor their service. We honor their bravery. But we do not want our streets militarized by our own armed forces. Not in LA, not in California, not anywhere. We're seeing unmarked cars, unmarked cars in school parking lots, kids afraid of attending their own graduation."

"Trump is pulling a military dragnet all across Los Angeles, well beyond his stated intent to just go after violent and serious criminals," he continued. "His agents are arresting dishwashers, gardeners, day laborers and seamstresses. That's just weakness. Weakness masquerading as strength. Donald Trump's government isn't protecting our communities. They're traumatizing our communities. And that seems to be the entire point."

Newsom had sent a letter on Sunday urging the administration to rescind its deployment of National Guard troops and return them to his command. The state has also filed a lawsuit against the administration over the federal deployment.

HEGSETH DEFENDS NATIONAL GUARD LA DEPLOYMENTS, SAYS ICE AGENTS MUST BE PROTECTED

"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. Democracy 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."

Car drives through anti-ICE protesters as Chicago joins nationwide anti-ICE unrest amid Trump crackdown

A car drove through a crowd of demonstrators Tuesday night as hundreds of anti-ICE protesters gathered in Downtown Chicago.

The protests in Chicago come as Los Angeles has faced days of unrest.

Protests in LA started on June 7, with rioters burning cars, throwing objects and fireworks at police, smashing the windows of the LAPD's headquarters and looting stores.

Tuesday's footage from FOX 32 Chicago shows what appeared to be a woman driving through the Chicago demonstrators walking with signs and biking on Wabash and Monroe.

A police officer attempted to hit the window of the moving vehicle in an apparent attempt to get the driver to stop, but it kept moving, FOX 32 reported. It is unclear if anyone was injured during the incident.

DOZENS OF ANTI-ICE RIOTERS ARRESTED IN LA AS TRUMP SENDS IN NATIONAL GUARD TO QUELL VIOLENCE

The Chicago Police Department told Fox News Digital on Tuesday evening that they were waiting to hear from responding officers when asked if the car's driver would face charges for driving through protesters.

While most Chicago protesters were peaceful on Tuesday, some demonstrators clashed and vandalized police vehicles, and public transportation was temporarily suspended downtown, FOX 32 reported.

LA NEWS ANCHOR CLAIMS PEOPLE ARE HAVING 'FUN' WATCHING CARS BURN, RIOTS 'RELATIVELY PEACEFUL'

Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez noted on X that multiple police cars had been vandalized.

"I guess we haven’t learned," he wrote in one Tuesday evening post.

RIOTERS SMASH WINDOWS AT LAPD HEADQUARTERS AS ANTI-ICE AGITATORS CLASH WITH AUTHORITIES

"I’m so sick of anarchy apologists and their ‘It’s not violent, just property damage bro’ bull----," he said in another.

An earlier protest Tuesday was part of a campaign called "From LA to Chicago: ICE Out!" according to FOX 32.

"I just think it's not right what's going on right now … people are being snatched off the street, so you just gotta do something about it," Benjamin Rose, one of the protesters, told the outlet.

DEMONSTRATOR STEALS POLICE CAR DURING ANTI-DEPORTATION PROTEST IN ARIZONA

Demonstrations have been popping up across the country, from Asheville, North Carolina, to Chicago to Los Angeles, where unrest broke out over the weekend following a raid. The Department of Homeland Security said ICE raids in LA over the weekend resulted in "hundreds of illegal aliens [being] arrested by ICE officers and agents," including "many with a criminal history and criminal convictions."

DHS listed more information about 19 suspects that ICE Los Angeles arrested on June 7 who are accused of crimes ranging from robbery to second-degree murder to rape.

"America’s brave ICE officers are removing the worst of the worst from LA’s streets, while LA’s leaders are working tirelessly against them," DHS said in a Sunday statement as riots continued through the weekend. 

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