SF Mayor Daniel Lurie fires back at Trump as federal agents headed to city
SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie addressed the public Wednesday after Gov. Gavin Newsom confirmed reports that federal agents are headed to the city.
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"We have been taking steps to prepare for this kind of escalation here in San Francisco, and I want to be very clear, we are prepared," Lurie said in a briefing.
Just minutes before Lurie's briefing Wednesday, Newsom posted a video on social media saying that federal agents are coming to San Francisco.
"This is right out of the dictator's handbook," the governor said. "He says he's going to send in the National Guard to address uncontrollable crime rates, which are fictitious."
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The announcement comes one week after President Donald Trump first threatened to send the National Guard to the city, and a few days after U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem discussed plans to deploy federal troops to the city.
Since then, Lurie has said that federal intervention with militarized agents does not improve public safety, a sentiment he repeated Wednesday.
San Francisco law enforcement officials and multiple supervisors stood around Lurie as he gave his speech.
"This doesn't make our city safer, it terrorizes our communities," Lurie said. "We don't exactly know what the federal government is planning in San Francisco and across the Bay Area, but we do know this federal administration has a playbook in cities across the country."
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie FULL SPEECH
Since taking office, Trump has ordered National Guard troops from various states to Portland, Oregon; Chicago; Memphis, Tennessee; Washington, D.C.; and Los Angeles. He has said the soldiers are needed to stop rampant crime and civil unrest.
Lurie and Newsom warned that the deployment of federal troops to cities can ignite the kind of chaos and disruption that they are purportedly sent to quell.
"Mass immigration officials are deployed to use aggressive enforcement tactics that instill fear so people don't feel safe going about their daily lives," Lurie said. "These tactics are designed to incite backlash, chaos and violence, which are then used as an excuse to deploy military personnel."
Lurie urged the public to remain calm and protest peacefully.
"If federal officials come to incite chaos on the streets of San Francisco, the way to support our communities and keep everyone in our city safe is to make our voices heard peacefully," he said. "Violence and destruction will only open the door to a more aggressive response, and that puts our communities at greater risk."
Lurie also announced that he signed an executive directive Wednesday designed to prepare for the impacts related to the deployment of federal troops to the city. The directive includes actions to bolster support for immigrant communities and also coordinate local law enforcement and the city's Department of Emergency Management to help promote public safety.
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A small group of protesters showed up at the entrance of Coast Guard Island Wednesday night in Oakland, the group angered and upset over federal agents coming to the Bay Area.
"They don't belong here in Oakland or the Bay Area," said Michele Pred of Oakland.
Safety concerns among Oakland residents were very high Wednesday night knowing that federal agents are coming to the Bay Area, many of whom will be staying at the Coast Guard station in Alameda.
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee also weighed in, saying that she intends to inform the public of any updates regarding the presence of federal agents.
"Oakland remains a proud sanctuary city committed to standing with our immigrant families, and we are actively monitoring this situation and are in touch with our state and federal delegation," Lee said in a statement. "We will notify our community with as much information as possible about any federal deployment."
Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta have said that California will sue the Trump administration if federal troops are deployed. San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu has also said that the city is prepared to challenge Trump in the event that the military comes.
"We're ready to go to court immediately if the President follows through on this latest illegal plan," Bonta said in a statement Tuesday.
ABC7 News reporter J.R. Stone contributed to this report.
