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Speaking in Los Angeles Friday, Vice President JD Vance criticized California state and local politicians, especially Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass, for “endangering” federal law enforcement and effectively declaring “open season on federal law enforcement.”
Vance said he was “shocked” to hear that “far-left agitators” have been posting the names, addresses and even family members of federal law enforcement officials in Los Angeles to harass, antagonize and threaten their lives.
“Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass have got to stop this craziness,” Vance said. “Every single law enforcement officer I talked to today, every single one of them, said they feel like the local leadership — the mayor and the governor — are encouraging these far-left agitators. What is the justification for this?”
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Vance called out LA Mayor Karen Bass, left, for doing too little to stop rioting in her city. (Getty)
Vance said he has been told by law enforcement officials in the area that “when they go out, let’s say you have a Border Patrol official who needs to go out and arrest somebody, maybe a violent criminal who’s also an illegal alien. When that Border Patrol agent goes out to do their job, they said within 15 minutes of them trying to do their job, they have protesters, sometimes violent protesters, who are in their face obstructing them, preventing them from doing their job and endangering their lives.
“Why do they have that?” he added. “Because those people have been egged on by local officials. Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass, by treating the city as a sanctuary city, have basically said that it is open season on federal law enforcement.”
Newsom has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump’s use of the National Guard and Marines to help local police quell the anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles, calling it both illegal and immoral.
The governor launched a lawsuit against the federal government to stop the use of the military in response to the riots. Though a district court ruled in Newsom’s favor, the 9th Circuit Court ruled Thursday to allow the Trump administration to continue using the military to assist local officials.
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Protesters face off with police outside a federal building in downtown Los Angeles for an anti-Trump “No Kings” demonstration in a city that has been the focus of protests against Trump’s immigration raids June 14, 2025. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
“They have treated Border Patrol and border enforcement as somehow an illegitimate force instead of what they are, which is the American people’s law enforcement trying to enforce the American people’s laws,” Vance said.
“So, when Gavin Newsom encourages violence and rioting, he encourages people to get in the face of our great Border Patrol officers, he is absolutely endangering the lives of federal enforcement.”
Commenting on the 9th Circuit’s ruling, Vance said, “It’s interesting that, for the past couple of weeks, Gavin Newsom has said that there’s an illegitimate effort to send federal resources to secure a city that he refuses to secure, and what the 9th Circuit said yesterday is that that was a completely legitimate and proper use of federal law enforcement.
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U.S. National Guard troops are deployed around downtown Los Angeles June 8, 2025, after an immigration raid protest the night before. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
“The president has a very simple proposal to everybody, in every city, every community, every town, whether big or small. If you enforce your own laws and if you protect federal law enforcement, we’re not going to send in the National Guard because it’s unnecessary,” he said.
“But if you let violent rioters burn great American cities to the ground, then, of course, we’re going to send federal law enforcement in to protect the people the president was elected to protect.
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“What I see here today is the great tragedy when a mayor and a governor encourage their citizens to harass and endanger the lives of our police officers and our law enforcement officers,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking to see, and thank God we’ve got great people who are willing to persevere despite it.”
