Washington Examiner economics columnist Tiana Lowe Doescher blasted Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and left-wing politicians in California after a new state law was passed, arguing it would inhibit journalists looking into fraud.
“They are extending the state’s Safe At Home Address Confidentiality program, basically saying, you can’t post a video or a photo of someone, obviously committing fraud using taxpayer-funded services, as long as they say they have a ‘reasonable fear for their safety,’” Doescher said Thursday on Newsmax’s The Right Squad.
On Saturday, Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2624, which deems it illegal to post personal information or photos of any “designated immigration support” person with the intent of having a third party commit a violent crime or threaten violence against the individual.
Conservatives have dubbed the bill the “Stop Nick Shirley Act,” referencing a popular conservative YouTuber and independent journalist who’s looked into alleged fraud in California. Shirley gained major traction following investigations into alleged fraud within the Somali community in Minnesota.
Doescher said Shirley recently “schooled” a New York Times reporter when asked about the bill. Shirley said the bill set a bad precedent, giving a hypothetical scenario of someone hiring a third party to commit violence in order to pin the blame on him.
“That means that they could literally hire somebody to go commit the crime and say, ‘that third party was because of Nick Shirley,’” Shirley said to the New York Times reporter. “And then Nick Shirley is responsible for that crime. And then, we’re going to give Nick Shirley that $4,000 fine.”
Shirley hosted a rally on Thursday to protest the bill, and it was briefly interrupted by counterprotesters.
CALIFORNIA ‘STOP NICK SHIRLEY ACT’ BACKED BY MIGRANT GROUP TIED TO ANTI-ICE RIOTS
“It wouldn’t be a rally without interference from left-wing agitators,” Doescher said. “Antifa members made their way to the rally to promote their anti-free speech beliefs, but not before law enforcement intervened, dragging these lunatics away.”
The Newsmax panel also discussed what this law could mean for journalists trying to obtain information legally. The Justice Department plans to look into the law if California’s attorney general begins enforcing it, Doescher said as she questioned whether the bill would pass legal muster.