They condemn it when others do it. They call it authoritarian, militarization, federal overreach. Then they do the exact same thing. Gavin Newsom, who spent months ridiculing Trump’s use of federal troops in cities like Los Angeles and Washington, has deployed his own crime suppression teams across California. The same cities. The same tactics. But this time it is called partnership. Not militarization. Not authoritarianism. Just governance.
The California Highway Patrol is now embedded in Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, the Bay Area, and more. Their mission is to saturate high-crime zones, arrest repeat offenders, and seize weapons and narcotics.
“These crime suppression teams will provide critical support to our local partners by focusing on crime where it happens most,” said CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee. “By combining resources, intelligence, and personnel, we can better disrupt criminal activity and strengthen the safety and security of communities across California.” link
The official line is collaboration. The reality is force. These teams have already made over 9,000 arrests, recovered 5,800 stolen vehicles, and seized 400 firearms all before the expansion. link
Why expand now? Why deploy state police in cities where crime is already falling? Newsom’s own press release boasts crime falling in Oakland by 34 percent, Bakersfield homicides down 57 percent, and shootings down 60 percent. link These are not emergency measures. They are political theater.
The timing is impossible to ignore. Trump had threatened to send the National Guard to San Francisco. Newsom immediately sent his own teams wrapped in the language of collaboration.
“The president is doing things TO PEOPLE. California is doing it WITH PEOPLE,” Newsom posted on X. link
This is not a distinction of policy. It is a distinction of messaging. Newsom insists the deployment is “not reacting and responding to anything” Trump did yet the rollout came hours after the threat. The cities are the same. The targets are the same. The uniforms are the only difference.
What is missing from coverage? What happens when arrests increase but convictions do not? When weapons are seized but violence continues? When visibility becomes surveillance? The press focuses on cooperation yet the consequences are concrete.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called Newsom “a collaborative partner.”
The tone is collaboration. The reality is state police in civilian neighborhoods. Intelligence gathering. Unannounced operations. Saturation tactics. All under the banner of progress.
This is hypocrisy made visible. The line between federal overreach and state action has vanished. What remains is power and who wields it under the guise of legitimacy.
