Border Patrol Agents Show Up in Force at Newsom Rally
More than a dozen Border Patrol agents turned up in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday at a rally and news conference that Gov. Gavin Newsom was holding on congressional redistricting.
The governor’s event had nothing to do with immigration, and local elected officials expressed outrage that the federal agents decided to stand there in a brazen show of force outside a museum where Mr. Newsom and other leaders were speaking.
As the governor was preparing to speak inside the Japanese American National Museum in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles, the agents assembled outside, many of them masked and armed, and some wearing tactical helmets and carrying rifles.
“This is just completely unacceptable,” Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles told reporters. “This is a Customs and Border Patrol that has gone amok. This absolutely has to stop. There was no danger here.”
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a post on social media that Ms. Bass “must be misinformed.”
“Our law enforcement operations are about enforcing the law — not about Gavin Newsom,” Ms. McLaughlin said.
The presence of the agents on Thursday came as Democratic leaders in California, including Mr. Newsom and Ms. Bass, have sparred with the federal government over widespread immigration raids in recent weeks.
Mr. Newsom has repeatedly criticized the Trump administration, and he sued the federal government for deploying National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quell protests this summer. The City of Los Angeles also joined a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security over how the raids have been conducted. In June, dozens of federal agents marched through MacArthur Park, in a neighborhood that is home to many immigrants, an action that drew criticism from local officials.
It was not immediately clear whether the agents who arrived on Thursday were patrolling the neighborhood or were part of a targeted operation.
A video shared on social media by Mr. Newsom’s press office shows the agents gathering outside the museum. In the video, Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol chief who is leading the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Southern California, says, “We’re here making Los Angeles a safer place, since we don’t have politicians who can do that. We do that ourselves.”
In the background of the video, people can be heard shouting at the Border Patrol agents. Honking is also heard from vehicles, a tactic that has been used by many residents across Southern California to alert neighbors when immigration agents are in the area.
When Mr. Newsom was asked by reporters about Border Patrol’s appearance outside his event, the governor said, “It’s pretty sick and pathetic.” He added that it said everything people need to know “about Donald Trump’s America.”
Ms. Bass told reporters outside the museum that there was “no way” the presence of federal agents outside Mr. Newsom’s rally was a coincidence, adding that the gathering had been widely publicized.
Mr. Newsom was in Los Angeles on Thursday to kick off a campaign asking California voters to approve a new congressional map. The governor is trying to help Democrats win more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives to counter a proposed Republican gerrymander in Texas, and his event included numerous Democratic leaders.
The governor’s event had nothing to do with immigration, and local elected officials expressed outrage that the federal agents decided to stand there in a brazen show of force outside a museum where Mr. Newsom and other leaders were speaking.
As the governor was preparing to speak inside the Japanese American National Museum in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles, the agents assembled outside, many of them masked and armed, and some wearing tactical helmets and carrying rifles.
“This is just completely unacceptable,” Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles told reporters. “This is a Customs and Border Patrol that has gone amok. This absolutely has to stop. There was no danger here.”
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a post on social media that Ms. Bass “must be misinformed.”
“Our law enforcement operations are about enforcing the law — not about Gavin Newsom,” Ms. McLaughlin said.
The presence of the agents on Thursday came as Democratic leaders in California, including Mr. Newsom and Ms. Bass, have sparred with the federal government over widespread immigration raids in recent weeks.
Mr. Newsom has repeatedly criticized the Trump administration, and he sued the federal government for deploying National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quell protests this summer. The City of Los Angeles also joined a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security over how the raids have been conducted. In June, dozens of federal agents marched through MacArthur Park, in a neighborhood that is home to many immigrants, an action that drew criticism from local officials.
It was not immediately clear whether the agents who arrived on Thursday were patrolling the neighborhood or were part of a targeted operation.
A video shared on social media by Mr. Newsom’s press office shows the agents gathering outside the museum. In the video, Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol chief who is leading the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Southern California, says, “We’re here making Los Angeles a safer place, since we don’t have politicians who can do that. We do that ourselves.”
In the background of the video, people can be heard shouting at the Border Patrol agents. Honking is also heard from vehicles, a tactic that has been used by many residents across Southern California to alert neighbors when immigration agents are in the area.
When Mr. Newsom was asked by reporters about Border Patrol’s appearance outside his event, the governor said, “It’s pretty sick and pathetic.” He added that it said everything people need to know “about Donald Trump’s America.”
Ms. Bass told reporters outside the museum that there was “no way” the presence of federal agents outside Mr. Newsom’s rally was a coincidence, adding that the gathering had been widely publicized.
Mr. Newsom was in Los Angeles on Thursday to kick off a campaign asking California voters to approve a new congressional map. The governor is trying to help Democrats win more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives to counter a proposed Republican gerrymander in Texas, and his event included numerous Democratic leaders.
