© 2024 Blaze Media LLC. All rights reserved.
California governor blames Trump, GOP for recent shooting in profanity-laced rant
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

California governor blames Trump, GOP for recent shooting in profanity-laced rant

Talk about politicizing a tragedy

California Gov. Gavin Newsom pointed the finger at President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers after a tragic shooting in Gilroy, California, took the lives of three people over the weekend, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Six-year-old Stephen Romero, 13-year old Keyla Salazar, and 25-year-old Trevor Irby were killed at a food festival by a gunman who was using a rifle that is banned in California. Twelve other people were injured. Police killed the gunman at the scene.

"You have a right to bear arms but not weapons of goddamned mass destruction," Newsom said. "You need these damn things for hunting? Give me a break."

Newsom blamed the tragedy on a "culture of gun violence" he said is perpetuated by Trump and the Republican Party.

"It's just sickening... the leadership today that just turns a blind eye and won't do a damn thing to address these issues," Newsom told reporters. "What's goddamned absent in this country right now is moral authority."

Newsom also accused the White House of hindering California's efforts to establish stricter gun laws. The gun used in the Sunday shooting was legally purchased in Nevada, and was described by police as an "assault-type rifle."

"California's doing its part, but Jesus, these guys, the folks in the White House have been supporting the kinds of policies that roll back the work that we're doing," Newsom said. "It keeps happening, over and over and over again, on their damned watch."

Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee credited his officers for their quick response and ability to take the gunman down, "despite the fact that they were outgunned, with their handguns, against a rifle."

"We had thousands of people there in a very small area," Smithee said in an emotional interview, according to the Los Angeles Times. "It could have gotten so much worse, so fast. I'm really proud that they got there as quickly as they did. There absolutely would have been more bloodshed."

Want to leave a tip?

We answer to you. Help keep our content free of advertisers and big tech censorship by leaving a tip today.
Want to join the conversation?
Already a subscriber?