Gov. Newsom Calls on Mayors to ‘Step Up’ After String of Robberies Hit the Golden State 

Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) called on California mayors to “step up” after mob lootings and organized robberies plagued the state this past weekend.

“I’m not the mayor of California, but I was a mayor, and I know when things like this happen, mayors have to step up,” Newsom said Monday at a San Francisco vaccine clinic. “That’s not an indictment. That’s not a cheap shot.”

Nordstrom, Louis Vuitton, medical pharmacies, marijuana dispensaries, and other retailers in the San Francisco area were targeted by back-to-back mob lootings. Additionally, 80 looters ransacked a Nordstrom location 25 miles outside of San Francisco and got away with close to $200,000 in merchandise. 

At least four people robbed and stole $40,000 from a Lululemon location about 50 miles outside of San Francisco.

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who faces a recall election next year, said, “if you come to San Francisco and you commit crimes, there will be consequences.”

“I stand in partnership with our local, regional, state, and federal partners as we work together to do whatever it takes to keep you safe,” Boudin added.

Southern California was also impacted by this series of robberies. In Los Angeles, at least 18 people broke into a Nordstrom location and stole thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. Newsome said:

We are going to be more aggressive still in this space to help support cities and the prosecution of folks. These people need to be held to account. We need to investigate these crimes. We need to break up these crime rings. We need to make an example out of these folks.

Newsom’s San Francisco-based PlumpJack Wine & Spirits has been burglarized at least four times since March 2020. The latest attempt was in July.

Newsom announced California Highway Patrol’s (CHP) presence would be increased around top shopping destinations during the holiday season. California legislators temporarily created a CHP task force to aid high crime areas in 2018, but the law expired at the beginning of 2021.

The California GOP blamed Newsom and his Democrat policies as the reason for the increase in robberies. 

“Gavin Newsom and California Democrats have made our state a more dangerous place to live, work and raise a family. Their failed policies have very real consequences for hard-working Californians,” the party said in a statement.