Deputy Mayor Doug Halter of Ventura, California, accused President Donald Trump of “terrorism” amid ICE’s immigration enforcement operations.
“This is absolutely unconscionable, what’s going on,” Halter began. “I never thought in my life that I would be seeing this sort of disruption, this sort of terrorism attack on our citizens, on our community, on our residents, our friends, our family, our neighbors, our workers, our employers.”
“Everything that impacts one part of our community impacts all of us,” he said. “And to see this coming from our own country…it’s just unconscionable.”
“This has got to stop,” Halter. “We have been asking for comprehensive immigration reform for at least 30 years. If you really want to be a hero, get on it and get it done. And leave our people alone, because we will fight and we will defend them, they are part of our community, and they will always be a part of our community.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass claimed during the press conference that the riots were “provoked by the White House.”
Governor Gavin Newsom (D) said in an address this week that “Democracy is under assault before our eyes.”
He argued that President Donald Trump is “taking a wrecking ball. A wrecking ball to our founding fathers’ historic project,” adding, “If you exercise your First Amendment rights, please do so peacefully. I know many of you are feeling deep anxiety, stress, and fear.”
“What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty. Your silence. To be complicit in this moment,” Newsom declared.
