Free Republic

SACRAMENTO, CA — As the federal government takes steps to attempt to solve a myriad of problems facing the Golden State, a furious Governor Gavin Newsom told reporters he won't stand silently by while Trump fixes California. While the Trump administration continued to conduct deportation operations throughout California cities, and the Department of Education proposed a plan to prevent males from competing in K-12 girls' sports, Newsom pledged to do everything in his power to prevent Trump from solving any of California's severe issues. "As long as I'm breathing, California will remain on the brink of destruction," an angry Newsom...

A woman brutally assaulted by an alleged transient in Los Angeles’ Los Feliz neighborhood is calling on city officials to do more to keep residents safe. The violence unfolded on June 18 when Donna DeChristopher, 52, was walking home from running errands in what she describes as a normally safe, walkable area near her residence on Sunset Drive. The 52-year-old spotted a homeless man that she’s seen in the area and believes lives in a nearby encampment not far from Thomas Starr King Middle School. She says the man, described as a Hispanic male in his 20’s, ran up to...

In one of the first nationwide hypothetical polls for the 2028 Democratic presidential primary, Illinois Governor and billionaire JB Pritzker ranks at the bottom, receiving the lowest level of support from minority voters as prominent Democrats begin preparing for potential campaigns. On Friday, the well-regarded Emerson College Polling released new results showing former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg leading the Democratic field with 16 percent support. Former Vice President Kamala Harris follows at 13 percent, with California Governor Gavin Newsom close behind at 12 percent. JB Pritzker, billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune who invested over $350 million of...

Most readers would agree, I think, that it is desirable to keep politics out of K-12 classrooms. And one would be hard-pressed to find anyone who favors having universities force secondary students to “learn” a particular political agenda. Yet that is what almost transpired in California this past spring. The story of how this came about, and the (at least partial) success of efforts to stop it, is one worth telling. Courses in “ethnic studies” have become a popular offering at high schools across much of the United States. In some school districts, taking a course in ethnic studies is...

I knew it! Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass were lying when they said it would be “easy” for fire victims to get a permit to rebuild their homes. From March 1 through June 30, 2025, more than 5,000 fire victims have visited the government’s “one stop center,” and 948 of them have applied for a building permit. But only 44 of them have actually received a building permit.By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)June 30, 2025The very first time that I heard California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass say that they were creating a “one...

The homeless man accused of a shooting spree in Santa Monica has been charged with three counts of attempted murder amid a wave of violence from transients that has Los Angeles residents on edge. David John Hairston II, 31, allegedly ambushed and shot a police officer at a pedestrian mall in the seaside enclave on Wednesday, just days after allegedly shooting two teens who were riding a self-driving taxi, according to prosecutors. Hairston was arrested after a citywide manhunt; he faces various weapons charges on top of the attempted murders, with a maximum sentence of 104 years to life in...

While Los Angeles burned—as rocks and bottles rained down on federal officers and National Guard troops deployed by presidential order—California Governor Gavin Newsom was sipping wine in Napa Valley, at an estate where the flagship Cabernet sells for $360 a bottle. On June 7, as rioters assaulted police, torched cars, and smashed windows across downtown Los Angeles, Newsom attended a wine tasting dubbed “Vineyard Vibes” at the Odette Estate Winery, an elite property he co-founded in 2011. According to Christopher Rufo and Ryan Thorpe at City Journal, the event served up live jazz, wood-fired smash burgers, and promotional copy so...

Rosie O’Donnell took to social media on Monday to promote a “recount” of President Donald Trump’s landslide victory over former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. The comedian shared a post to her Instagram Story from social media influencer Joe Braxton, who claimed that Tesla CEO Elon Musk “hacked and stole” the 2024 presidential election in his demand for a “recount.” “We Demand A Recount!” the online influencer exclaimed in the caption of his Instagram post, which was shared by O’Donnell. Braxton went on to bizarrely alleged that “Elon hacked and stole the election, then created a department...

On Sunday, June 22, The Hill reported that failed 2020 and 2024 presidential candidate Kamala Harris is “leaning toward entering the [2026] California gubernatorial race, per sources familiar with the former vice president’s thinking.” “While the sources caution that Harris hasn’t made a final decision yet and is still considering all her options, they say she has made it clear that she is not done with public service and is giving the race strong consideration. Those who have spoken to Harris about the possibility of entering the race say it has given her a renewed sense of excitement and, as...

Harris has not made a final decision, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to The Hill. One source said that the possibility of entering the race has put “a glimmer in her eyes.” “She has a lot of people in her ear telling her that it makes the most sense and she can do the most good,” said one source who spoke to Harris about a potential run. Another source reportedly “pushed back” on the notion that Harris would enter the race, they told The Hill: Either way, the sources say Harris is sticking to a self-imposed end-of-summer deadline...

As riots engulfed Los Angeles and mobs vandalized public buildings, incinerated vehicles, and assaulted law enforcement officers, California governor Gavin Newsom was enjoying a swanky wine-tasting party in Napa Valley. The wine-tasting was held on the afternoon of June 7, 2025, at the Odette Estate Winery, which Newsom co-founded in 2011. Dubbed “Vineyard Vibes,” the event was a fundraiser for the PlumpJack Foundation, founded by Newsom’s sister, and featured “contemporary yet sophisticated” wines, live jazz music, and locally made pizza and smash burgers. ... A source who photographed Newsom at the event expressed shock that the governor was in attendance,...

$100M Brinks Heist Duo to Appear in Court Tuesday Two Southern California residents are expected to appear in court Tuesday on federal charges alleging they broke into a Brinks truck and stole nearly $100 million worth of gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and luxury watches in what officials consider the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history. The indictment, returned in Los Angeles federal court last week, charges seven defendants with two counts of conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment and theft from interstate and foreign shipment, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Due for their initial court appearances...

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass compared the impact of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids to the coronavirus lockdowns that her party imposed on California, in that both kept people at home. Bass made the comparison over the weekend in visits to small businesses in a neighborhood that, the Los Angeles Times, depended on the “immigrant” economy (the Times never used the word “illegal). The Times reported: Bass visited a number of small businesses in Boyle Heights with Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez (D-Los Angeles), including Casa Fina, Distrito Catorce, Yeya’s and Birrieria De Don Boni, as well as the Estrada...

On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Weeknight,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass responded to a question on whether the LAPD should tip off neighborhood leaders if they know ICE enforcement is coming by saying that “the problem is, is that they don’t. They don’t have any idea. And so, they cannot be helpful in that way. They are excluded. They’re just as in the dark as we are.” Co-host Alicia Menendez asked, “Mayor Bass, to your point about L.A. being an experiment, you had the president today saying that he wants to step up deportation efforts in many Democrat-run cities....

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Oakland was once again turned into a dystopian Mad Max-style hellscape as cars and fireworks exploded during multiple street takeovers in the Democrat-run city.At least one person was left critically injured as several major intersections were shut down by street 'sideshows' in the early hours of Sunday morning. Numerous cars were set ablaze, fireworks were thrown and businesses were vandalized as at least three unsanctioned car shows took over the California city.Hundreds of feral onlookers cheered and screamed as the city descended into lawlessness in scenes reminiscent of the post-apocalyptic movies starring Mel Gibson. 'It's crazy,' Oakland resident Santana Beltran...

A large mob was seen looting an AutoZone store in South Los Angeles early Monday morning, and the incident was likely connected to a street takeover that took place nearby.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and “Real Time” host Bill Maher agreed on Friday that the optics of Democrats defending the anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles will be “good for Trump” as scenes of chaos from the riots continue to go viral on social media. Maher noted that some on the left condemned Fetterman after he denounced the violence happening in the streets of Los Angeles and agreed that “it doesn’t do the Democratic Party any good to defend” the violent protests. Fetterman issued a strong message on X Monday evening denouncing the riots in L.A. and included a now-infamous photo...

New York Times columnist Tressie McMillan Cottom said Friday that former President Barack Obama will not be coming to Democrats' collective rescue as the party struggles to find national leadership in the wake of their stinging defeat in 2024. Cottom argued that Democrats desperate for Obama to save the party are "undignified" and weak, asserting that change will not come from above, but rather from "the streets." "We must start asking how we can save ourselves. We are seeing the start of that in places like Los Angeles, San Antonio and Raleigh, N.C.," she wrote, referencing the anti-ICE protests occurring...

NBC’s Seth Meyers continued his lamentations on President Trump’s response to the Los Angeles riots on Wednesday’s edition of Late Night. As Meyers tells it, Congressional Republicans, led by Speaker Mike Johnson, are “collaborating” with Trump to “turn America into a military-style autocracy” and would’ve ratted out the original Tea Party to the British in 1773. Meyers was agreeing with California Gov. Gavin Newsom that the Founders would be ashamed of Trump’s actions when he went on one of his Meyers-esque digressions about what the proper term for “pants” was in the 18th century and then declared, “Now, if you’re...