Gov. Gavin Newsom urges peace at a news conference Monday and seeks to calm anger in California over the death of George Floyd.
Gov. Gavin Newsom met with faith leaders Monday and urged peace as the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis continued to ignite protests by day and violence and looting by night in many cities across California and the nation.
Newsom implored Californians to show empathy to one another in his first news conference since before he deployed the California National Guard to Los Angeles early Sunday morning, marking the third time in more than half of a century that troops have responded to unrest in the city over violence against a black man in police custody.
“You’ve lost patience. So have I. You are right to feel wronged. You are right to feel the way you are feeling,” Newsom said to protesters, adding that “society has a responsibility to you to be better, and to do better.”
Hours earlier, President Trump spoke with governors and called for a harsher police crackdown. Asked several times about the president’s comments, Newsom declined to directly respond to Trump or criticize him.
In just his second year in office, Newsom faces the delicate task of helping to lead California through yet another crisis, this time brought on by decades of pain and suffering in the black community. Standing at the Genesis Church in South Sacramento with Pastor Tecoy Porter Sr., Newsom committed to addressing “systemic problems” in the United States.
