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Everything we have seen over the past few days in Los Angeles was avoidable. The chaos, the crime, rocks thrown at police officers, cars set on fire, freeways blocked, small businesses looted, vile graffiti and vandalism everywhere, the despicable sight of law enforcement violently attacked for doing their jobs…all under the revolting shadow of American flags burning while Mexican and Palestinian flags fly high.
All of it was avoidable, and if I were governor right now it would have been avoided. Here’s why.
First, because we would never have ended up in this ridiculous and counterproductive confrontational posture with ICE over federal immigration enforcement.
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As my good friend, border czar Tom Homan, patiently explains, time after time, it is the lack of cooperation with ICE that provokes the kind of enforcement actions that are most likely to lead to fear and anxiety in immigrant communities.
If state and local law enforcement worked with ICE instead of against it, everyone could focus on removing violent criminals with deportation notices. These criminals have had the "due process" the left keeps demanding. It could all be handled calmly and reasonably within the law enforcement community. That’s what happens in other states.
But not in California, where leftist activist groups pull the strings of the people who are supposed to be in charge. So every so-called ‘leader’ in California, from Gov. Gavin Newsom to L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, to the Police Chief and Sheriff, rushed at the first opportunity to distance themselves from federal law enforcement instead of working in partnership with it. One by one, the pathetic, pandering statements popped up on social media, revealing the real priority: appeasing activists, not protecting the public.
When it became clear that ideological agitators -- some of them, outrageously, funded by California taxpayers -- were hell-bent on causing trouble, I would have clamped down on it immediately. Once you let a situation like this get out of control, it feeds on itself. It was this, not President Donald Trump’s intervention, as Newsom dishonestly claims, that led to the escalation, and the shameful scenes that have disfigured America’s second-largest city these last few days.
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But these riots reveal the deeper, darker malaise caused by fifteen years of one-party rule by Democrats: the upside-down morality where those who do the wrong thing are rewarded while people who do the right thing are punished.
Just the other weekend in L.A., we saw scenes very similar to these riots, just on a smaller scale. After an illegal rooftop party got out of control, hundreds of thugs marauded around a neighborhood, vandalizing local businesses, setting cars on fire, including a police car. What did the police do? Nothing. They just stood back and let it happen. Not a single arrest was made.
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No wonder this past weekend’s rioters acted so brazenly, assuming there would be no repercussions for their criminal behavior. They’re right! In California, it seems, only law-abiding people are chased and harassed by the government.
All this nonsense will end when I am elected in 2026.
The riots in Los Angeles reveal the deeper, darker malaise caused by fifteen years of one-party rule by Democrats: the upside-down morality where those who do the wrong thing are rewarded while people who do the right thing are punished.
Even if I can’t overturn it, I will use the discretion contained within California’s ‘sanctuary’ law to work with federal authorities to enforce the law. When states like California refuse to cooperate, it makes everyone less safe, especially the working-class and immigrant communities who are most often the victims of violent crime.
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I will support our law enforcement officers and make it absolutely clear that anyone who attacks a police officer will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
I simply will not tolerate the crime, the chaos, or the breakdown in basic law and order that has become the norm in California today. Rioters will be prosecuted, to deliver the accountability society expects, and the deterrence that we need.
This is about more than just immigration policy. It’s about the rule of law. It’s about whether we are going to be a state that protects our communities or a state that descends further into chaos and anarchy.
On my watch, California will be a place of law and order. We will choose safety and sanity. We will back the people who wear the uniform and risk their lives every day to keep our streets safe.
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Enough of the lies. Enough of the excuses. Enough of the riots.
If I were governor, this would not be happening. And if the people of California give me that honor and responsibility, I will make sure it never happens again.
Republican Steve Hilton is a candidate for governor of California. He previously served as senior policy and strategy advisor to former U.K. prime minister David Cameron. He is a former host of "The Next Revolution" on Fox News.
