California Governor Gavin Newsom slammed President Donald Trump on Tuesday night as federal troops remained in Los Angeles amid protests against Trump’s immigration raids.

The latest demonstrations began on Friday after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents carried out raids in the city looking for undocumented immigrants. Trump responded by federalizing 4,000 California National Guard soldiers and deploying 700 Marines to the area over Newsom’s objection. It is the first time a president has done so since 1965.

After a largely uneventful day among the protests, Newsom delivered remarks in a televised address.

“On Saturday morning, when federal agents jumped out of an unmarked van near a Home Depot parking lot, they began grabbing people, a deliberate targeting of a heavily Latino suburb,” he said. “A similar scene played out when a clothing company was raided downtown. In other actions, a U.S. citizen nine months pregnant was arrested. A four-year-old girl taken, families separated, friends quite literally disappearing. In response. Every day, Angelenos came out to exercise their constitutional right to free speech and assembly to protest their government’s actions.”

Newsom went on to say that Los Angeles deployed police to help maintain order and that they did so “with some exceptions.”

“Like many states, California is no stranger to this sort of unrest,” he went on. “We manage it regularly and with our own law enforcement. But this, again, was different. What then ensued was the use of tear gas, flash bang grenades, rubber bullets, federal agents detaining people and undermining their due process rights.”

The governor then took Trump to task for federalizing the state’s National Guard.

“This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers, and even our National Guard at risk,” he said. “That’s when the downward spiral began. He doubled down on his dangerous National Guard deployment by fanning the flames even harder. And the president, he did it on purpose. As the news spread throughout L.A., anxiety for family and friends ramped up. Protests started again. By night, several dozen lawbreakers became violent and destructive. They vandalized property. They tried to assault police officers.”

Newsom noted that the state is challenging the troop deployments in court and said the president wants chaos.

“Trump and his loyalists, they thrive on division because it allows them to take more power and exert even more control,” he added. “And by the way, Trump, he’s not opposed to lawlessness and violence as long as it serves him. What more evidence do we need than January 6th?”

He concluded:

It’s time for all of us to stand up. Justice Brandeis – who said it best – in a democracy, the most important office, with all due respect, Mr. President, is not the presidency. And it’s certainly not governor. The most important office is office of citizen at this moment. At this moment, we all need to stand up and be held to a higher level of accountability.

If you exercise your First Amendment rights, please, please do it peacefully. I know many of you are feeling deep anxiety, stress, and fear. But I want you to know that you are the antidote to that fear and that anxiety. What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty, your silence, to be complicit in this moment. Do not give in to him.

Gavin Newsom Hits Back at Trump in Primetime Address

California Governor Gavin Newsom slammed President Donald Trump on Tuesday night as federal troops remained in Los Angeles.