Source: The Sacramento Bee
Flanked by dozens of lawmakers from each chamber, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, called on both his national party’s leaders and on California Republicans to reign in the federal government after this weekend’s death in Minneapolis.
Rivas and other lawmakers also said Congressional Democrats should shut the government down for the second time in less than three months rather than further fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“I’m calling on our national Democrat leaders to stand resolutely against this president,” Rivas said, “if that means shutting down the federal government, then so be it.”
Rivas made the comments at a news conference where Senate President Monique Limón, D-Goleta, and other state lawmakers also reacted to an immigration officer fatally shooting Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti over the weekend. The death drove thousands out into bitterly cold temperatures to protest in that city as well as Washington D.C. and New York City. President Donald Trump and other members of his administration have said federal agents opened fire to defend themselves after Pretti of approached them with a gun, though video evidence is at odd with their account. Footage of the killing recorded by other witnesses at the scene shows that Pretti was “clearly holding a phone, not a gun,” according to the New York Times, and that agents had wrestled him to the ground before the gunfire.
State lawmakers used Monday’s news conference to emphasize that elected officials in California, where cities such as Los Angeles have contended with surges of federal law enforcement officers and the protests that follow them, would support Minneapolis officials who have asked Trump to pull ICE out of the city. They also announced more bills attempting to regulate federal agents who operate in California.
Rivas, Limón and other lawmakers addressed reporters Monday from a lectern decorated with a graphic of California’s bear mascot with its head thrown back in a roar and the message “ICE out now,” as state leaders continued to escalate their war of words with the federal government.
In the California Assembly, around a dozen lawmakers had upside down American flags on their desk during Monday afternoon’s legislative session — a symbol of distress invoked by both political sides during times of intense dispute with the federal government. The Democrat lawmakers joined other state leaders who have called for new measures against the federal government since Saturday’s shooting.
Gov. Gavin Newsom directed Californians’ attention to a portal where they can report misconduct or brutality by federal agents to the state attorney general. In an interview with Politico, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins reiterated an earlier warning that she might seek to prosecute federal agents if they appear to commit crimes in that city.
Meanwhile, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Schumer, D-New York, on Monday expressed a willingness to lead Senate Democrats into a shutdown if Republicans in that chamber don’t pull a bill funding U.S. Department of Homeland Security from broader legislation to fund the government. California’s two senators also said Monday they would not vote to fund ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol in the wake of the weekend’s shooting.
Still, Rivas reiterated the concerns of many Democrats frustrated with their congressional leadership’s seeming inability to slow Trump’s agenda in the Republican-dominated Congress. Schumer “has to lead with strength,” Rivas said, “or if not, step aside for someone who will.”