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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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California's Republican Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones has told Newsweek that Governor Gavin Newsom should "absolutely not" be arrested amid President Donald Trump's threats to detain his Democratic opponent.
"Unfortunately, now this has escalated to the point where people's egos are involved," Jones told Newsweek. "I don't accept the bloviating from the governor or from the federal administration either. They both need to get professional about this, do the job, and settle things down."
Why It Matters
The Trump administration plans to deploy an additional 2,000 National Guard to support the response to protests in Los Angeles against Trump's immigration agenda.
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The troops will supplement the 2,000 already stationed in the city, along with 700 Marines mobilized by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Newsom's office told Newsweek only about 300 of the original 2,000 National Guard troops have been deployed.
Newsom's administration has sued the federal government over what it calls an "illegal" deployment of the guard.
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What To Know
Senator Jones criticized both sides for fueling the situation, saying that state leaders like Newsom, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff, and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass have not helped de-escalate tensions.
Trump has backed calls from his border czar, Tom Homan, that Newsom should be arrested.
"I would do it, if I were Tom," Trump said. "It would be great."
Homan has repeatedly suggested that Democratic officials who oppose the administration's federal immigration operations could face arrest. He indicated that this could also apply to Newsom and Bass before backtracking and denying the threats.
"They've all called for people to resist the federal government. They've all criticized the federal law enforcement officers," he said.
"I mean, to the point of telling the National Guard to go home, why don't they tell the rioters to go home? Why is their focus on law enforcement, people who are trying to keep the peace, and not on the rioters that are disturbing the peace? That's my first irritation on the whole thing."
Jones emphasized his frustration with what he saw as a lack of effective Democratic leadership in California during a time of crisis, but firmly rejected the idea that arresting the governor was a legitimate solution.
The Republican leader in a deep blue state-backed calls to deploy the National Guard to arrest rioters.
"They started off as protests, but now they've degraded to riots," he said.
"They should be used to arrest rioters when the protest degrades into a riot. When people are throwing Molotov cocktails, when they're throwing bricks, when they're hurting other people, when they're lighting cars on fire, when they're damaging private property, that's no longer a protest," Jones said.
According to Newsom's office, around 300 National Guard troops were deployed to three locations across Los Angeles early Sunday morning, between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. on July 8. The remaining 1,700 personnel are still at nearby armories, waiting for deployment orders.
Trump mobilized the National Guard by invoking Title 10, Section 12406 of the U.S. Code, which permits the federal government to activate the Guard in response to an invasion, rebellion, or when local authorities are unable to enforce the law.
The statute allows the president to federalize the Guard, but stipulates that orders must be issued through state governors.
However, during the deployment, Newsom publicly stated he did not request the deployment, making it the first activation without a governor's request since 1965. This raised legal and political questions about federal authority and state sovereignty during domestic deployments.
The Posse Comitatus Act of 1978 restricts the use of federal military personnel for domestic law enforcement. As a result, while the National Guard units mobilized by Trump in Los Angeles can support federal agents, and secure federal properties, they are prohibited from engaging in direct law enforcement activities such as arresting protesters.
Legal experts told Newsweek that Trump's decision to federalize California's National Guard in response to the protests in Los Angeles raises serious constitutional concerns.
"President Trump's response to the protests in Los Angeles by federalizing California's National Guard is unlawful grandstanding and throwing kerosene on a small fire that, given his unconstitutional intrusion into state sovereignty and given the toxicity of the political battle between Trump and California state authorities, may erupt into a conflagration. Bennett Gershman," a professor of law at Pace University, told Newsweek.
What People Are Saying
Governor Gavin Newsom said: "This is about authoritarian tendencies. This about command and control. This is about power. This about ego. This is a consistent pattern…this guy has abandoned the core principles of this great democracy. He's threatening to go after judges he disagrees with, cut off funding to institutions of higher learning, he's rewriting history and censoring historical facts."
President Donald Trump told reporters: "I think his primary crime is running for governor because he's done such a bad job."
Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi said in a post on X, formerly Twitter: "The Trump administration's escalation and provocation in California inflames tensions and incites violence."
"Now, the president of the United States said he would arrest a sitting American governor just for disagreeing with these actions.
"This is a hallmark of authoritarianism on the road to tyranny—and all Americans should be shocked and appalled by the president's blatant disregard for our constitutional system."
Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama backed Trump's calls to arrest Newsom, saying in a post on X: "Lock him up."
"L.A. looks like a third world country—anarchists are in charge, law enforcement is being attacked, and the rule of law is nonexistent."
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