“What’s happening right now is vrey different than anything we’ve seen before,” Gavin newsom, the Governor of California, said in a speech Tuesday night that was seemingly addressed as much to his own state’s residents as to the nation.

“This isn’t just about protests here in Los Angeles. When Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard, he made that order apply to every state in this nation,” Newsom stated, referencing the recent unrest in southern California following the President’s deployment of troops to manage violence and vandalism during demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. The Governor described this as a “brazen abuse of power” that “inflamed a combustible situation.”

“This is about all of us. This is about you,” Newsom said. “California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next.Democracy is next.”

Newsom criticised trump, asserting he is a President who “wants to be bound by no law or constitution, perpetuating a unified assault on American traditions.” He also reiterated his claim that Trump was “fanning the flames” in Los Angeles “on purpose.”

Newsom argued that California could have handled the disturbances with its own resources. “The situation was winding down and was concentrated in just a few square blocks downtown,” Newsom explained. “But that-that’s not what Donald Trump wanted. He again chose escalation. he chose more force. He chose theatrics over public safety