2 days ago
Healey backs Newsom in fight with Trump over LA protest response
BOSTON (SHNS) – Gov. Maura Healey backed California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday as protests over federal immigration raids have dragged into their fifth day in Los Angeles.
'I stand in support with Governor Newsom, and supporting his prerogative as commander in chief to lead local and state law enforcement in protecting communities. What Donald Trump is doing is making communities less safe,' Healey told reporters Wednesday after an unrelated event outside of the State House.
The protests started in LA on Friday, when Immigration Customs Enforcement raids took place across the city. Over the weekend, the demonstrations escalated and the Trump administration sent about 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the city. Mayor Karen Bass implemented a curfew in downtown LA and Newsom filed an emergency motion to try to block further deployment of troops in the city center.
'They're talking about spending over a $100 million with this deployment,' Bass said at a news conference, according to Courthouse News Service. 'Which is why I say that I feel like we have all been in Los Angeles a part of a grand experiment to see what happens when the federal government decides they want to roll up on a state, or roll up on a city, and take over.'
President Donald Trump posted about the LA protests and military deployment on his social media platform, Truth Social, several times Wednesday morning.
'If our troops didn't go into Los Angeles, it would be burning to the ground right now, just like so much of their housing burned to the ground. The great people of Los Angeles are very lucky that I made the decision to go in and help!!!' he wrote.
Another post says, 'The INCOMPETENT Governor of California was unable to provide protection in a timely manner when our Ice Officers, GREAT Patriots they are, were attacked by an out of control mob of agitators, troublemakers, and/or insurrectionists. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!'
Gov. Newsom has responded by calling Trump a threat to American life.
'California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next,' he warned during a press conference on Wednesday. 'Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived.'
Healey told reporters that she joins with governors and attorneys general around the country in denouncing Trump's actions.
'It is wrong to federalize the National Guard over the objection of and without the consultation of a governor of a state,' she said. 'It's making our communities less safe, and it puts law enforcement in danger,' adding that 'I don't want to see them in harm's way either, just like I don't want to see members of our military in harm's way.'
'In terms of what happens next with court actions. I'll leave that to the attorney general and support whatever steps she takes that she thinks are important to vindicate things as a legal matter, because that's her domain,' Healey said.
Attorney General Andrea Campbell joined a group of 18 attorneys general in releasing a statement Wednesday condemning Trump's military deployment to the city 'as the chief law enforcement officers' in their respective states.
'The president's decision to federalize and deploy California's National Guard without the consent of California state leaders is unlawful, unconstitutional, and undemocratic,' the statement reads.
It continues, 'The federal administration should be working with local leaders to keep everyone safe, not mobilizing the military against the American people… We oppose any action from this administration that will sow chaos, inflame tensions, and put people's lives at risk – including those of our law enforcement officers.'
WBUR reported over 200 people gathered for a rally at Boston City Hall on Monday for a rally against ICE raids in LA and Trump's response to the protests. There are several protests planned around the state on June 14 as part of a nationwide 'No Kings Day' effort, on the same day Trump is planning a military parade in Washington D.C. to celebrate the Army's 250th birthday, which also falls on his 79th birthday.
At a press conference this week, Bass said the protests have been limited to about five streets or one square mile of the city, compared to 503 square miles in Los Angeles. She said city officials, including police, have the capacity to handle protests and are not getting information from federal officials about immigration raids.
'I would appeal to the president to stop the ICE raids so that we can have stability in our city,' Bass said. 'I think about the families who are afraid to go to work and go to school. I was talking to a friend today who in her local grocery store, the shelves were empty, a lot of the shelves were empty, because people aren't coming to work to stock the shelves. We have to look at the contribution that the immigrant population makes to our local economy. And you know that there are some industries that the majority are immigrant labor. And so when you frighten immigrants and they don't want to come to work you are hitting at the heart of our local economy. The nannies that can't show up, the gardeners that can't show up, that impacts households in a way that I don't think people often realize the extent.'
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