The House of Representatives is set to vote this week on a resolution condemning the recent Los Angeles riots and thanking law enforcement.
The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., “condemns unequivocally the violence perpetrated against federal, state, and local law enforcement” and “calls on local and state elected leadership to work with the federal government to end the violent riots and restore peace.”
“Peaceful protests are a constitutional right, but vandalism, looting, violence, and other crimes are not. Protecting public safety shouldn’t be controversial, which is why I am leading the California Republican delegation in a resolution to support law and order as we continue to see unrest,” Kim told The Daily Signal.
“I hope [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom can come together with President [Donald] Trump to stop the riots, lower the temperature, and keep our communities safe,” the congresswoman continued.
“Let’s be clear: The riots escalated before the National Guard was sent in and were enabled by California’s soft-on-crime policies—peddled for years by Gov. Newsom, Sacramento, and local prosecutors—that have allowed for lawlessness and endangered public safety of hardworking Californians,” Kim added.
A spokeswoman for Kim, who represents a district southeast of Los Angeles, said the resolution is expected to be brought up to the floor for a vote on Friday.
The move comes after a federal appeals court determined that President Donald Trump had lawfully deployed the National Guard to California to secure Los Angeles from the rioters. Newsom had initiated the challenge to Trump’s action.
The resolution also expresses gratitude to the law enforcement officers who intervened to help quell the riots, including “the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, California Highway Patrol, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and other local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.”
It notes that the “protests quickly escalated into violent riots across Los Angeles, where acts of arson, widespread looting, property destruction, and vandalism were committed, blocking streets and highways, lighting streets on fire, throwing rocks at law enforcement vehicles, and assaulting federal and local peace officers.”
Kim’s resolution goes on to castigate rioters who “have shot commercial grade fireworks and thrown Molotov cocktails at Los Angeles Police Department officers and assaulted federal agents” and “burned American flags, an act that disrespects the nation that protects their freedom.”
It also critiques Newsom, quoting him as saying that local law enforcement did not need any help. The resolution also captures the extent of the people involved in illegal activity noting that more than 561 have been arrested.