The day before Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) signed a bill to help left-wing activists identify and harass law enforcement officers, a former leader of the California Federation of Teachers shot up a Sacramento ABC station where Democrats had protested over the suspension of the washed-up late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel.
Instead of locking up this domestic terrorist, California Democrats released him onto the streets the next morning. The only reason he is now in custody is that the FBI stepped in and arrested him on federal charges.
Newsom and other Democrats like him across the country are more interested in promoting rhetoric of the sort that inspired the Sacramento shooter than in working with federal law enforcement agencies to push back the illegal immigrant invasion facilitated by former President Joe Biden. Newsom has signed a bill banning law enforcement officers from concealing their identities with masks. It should be ignored by the FBI, and the federal agency will win in court if Newsom foolishly challenges its right to do so.
On Friday afternoon, Anibal Hernandez Santana, whose social media account indicates that he once served as legislative director for the California Federation of Teachers, fired three shots into the lobby of the ABC affiliate in Sacramento. Someone was in the lobby at the time of the shooting, but fortunately, no one was hurt. Hernandez Santana was later arrested at home, and officers found a handwritten note in his car mentioning FBI Director Kash Patel, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, and Attorney General Pam Bondi, with the words, “They’re next.” Hernandez Santana’s social media feed also shows that he was a Democrat who had been turned to extremism by leftist rhetoric against President Donald Trump.
“The authoritarian oligarchy is now complete,” one Hernandez Santana post reads. “CBS+ caving, big law firms in DC, the subservients(sic) FBI and AG, university presidents stepping down, fan boys SCOTUS, public radio, ICE goons. We are going to have to ‘fight like hell.’ Rules don’t apply if (sic) election was stolen. FIGHT!”
More recently, Hernandez Santana had suggestions for Democrats in Congress, linking to a New York Times article calling for Democrats to “stop funding Trump’s takeover,” adding, “Shut down the government. Let’s not fund Trump’s takeover of America, his lawlessness, RFK, the secret police, and weaponization of(sic) DOJ and the FBI.”
Despite Hernandez Santana’s proclivity for violence and his goal of committing violence against federal law officers, he was released on bail by the local Democrat-controlled government. Thankfully, the FBI moved swiftly to rearrest him and keep him in jail, where he can do no harm while he awaits trial. “Targeted acts of violence are unacceptable and will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law,” Patel posted on X. The FBI is holding Hernandez Santana on charges of discharging a firearm in a school zone and interfering with a federally licensed radio communication station.
Newsom didn’t lift a finger to keep Hernandez Santana behind bars, but that day, he did sign a “No Secret Police Act,” which makes it a misdemeanor for law enforcement agents to wear masks while performing their duties. “We have the right to stand up and push back, and that’s what we’re doing here today,” Newsom bragged at the bill signing. “To ICE: unmask. What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of?”
Perhaps they are afraid of being shot. What ICE agents are afraid of, Gov. Newsom, is left-wing activists like Hernandez Santana finding out their identities, discovering where they live, and hunting them down in their homes. When violent left-wing activists hear leaders like Newsom describe the Trump administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as fascists and then hear those leaders say Democrats need to fight back, they eventually take up arms and commit violence.
THERE IS NO FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT TO OBSTRUCT LAW ENFORCEMENT
Newsom knows his mask ban is just for show, something he can sign to look tough to presidential primary voters. In 2018, he signed a similar law banning federal law enforcement from arresting illegal immigrants in state courts. ICE ignored that law, and Newsom hasn’t tried to enforce it. The same thing will happen with Newsom’s mask ban. As a state officer, he has no right to tell federal agents how to do their jobs.
California Democrats want to make it as difficult as possible for federal law officers to do their jobs. They pass laws that enable activists to harass federal officers, and they let violent extremists roam the streets. This doesn’t endanger just law enforcement officers but also every citizen who relies on them for safety. The Trump administration has shown the resolve to override California’s games. If California politicians won’t stop left-wing violence, it is a good thing that Trump will.