Border agents appeared outside of a Los Angeles rally held by California Governor Gavin Newsom as he announced his counterattack to Trump-backed redistricting efforts in Texas.
According to Newsweek, agents arrived near the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Little Tokyo on Thursday (August 14) just as Newsom said he would be redrawing California’s congressional districts in response to political gerrymandering in Texas.
Newsom condemned the operation as “pretty sick and pathetic,” accusing the Trump administration of using federal law enforcement to intimidate his political opponents.
“It was top down. You know that for a fact. They’ll deny it—well, maybe they won’t deny it,” Newsom told reporters after Thursday’s rally. “They chose the time, manner, and place to send their district director outside right when we’re about to have this press conference—everything you know about Donald Trump’s America … about the authoritarian tendencies of the president.”
At least one person was taken into custody during the operation. Video showed agents in tactical gear leading a handcuffed individual through a crowd.
During the rally, Newsom unveiled a redistricting proposal that could give Democrats five new congressional seats in 2026. A special election on the new maps is scheduled for November 4, pending approval by the state legislature next week.
The plan is a direct counter to the proposed congressional maps in Texas. House Democrats fled the state earlier this month to prevent the legislature from reaching the quorum needed to vote on new maps. Texas’ proposed redraw would give Republicans as many as five additional House seats. Democrats have argued that redistricting will suppress voters of color and is a blatant power grab orchestrated by Trump to maintain control in Washington.
The appearance of federal agents outside of Newsom’s rally sparked widespread backlash from Democratic officials.
“This is just completely unacceptable,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said. “This is a Customs and Border Patrol that has gone amok. This absolutely has to stop. There was no danger here.”
“What we witnessed today outside the Democracy Center in Little Tokyo was nothing short of political theater—a weaponization of federal law enforcement against the legislative process and against democracy itself,” State Senator María Elena Durazo said. “When federal agents conduct ‘roving patrols’ outside press conferences where governors and legislators are discussing the state of our democracy, we are witnessing the tactics of authoritarianism, not law enforcement.”
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin defended the operation, saying, “Our law enforcement operations are about enforcing the law—not about Gavin Newsom.”
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