Gavin Newsom revealed on Wednesday that he once witnessed a shoplifter steal from Target without any interference from employees, one of whom blamed the governor of California for braving criminals in the state before he realized who he really was.
The Golden State leader recalled the awkward interaction at the start of a Zoom forum about a mental health proposal he supports, and as California continues to deal with its retail theft crisis, the Mercury News reported.
Newsom said he was in the Target checkout line when he and a store employee saw the shoplifter walk out of the store with items he hadn’t paid for, according to footage posted online.
“I said, ‘why don’t you stop it,'” Newsom said. “He goes, ‘oh, governor.’ I swear to God, the story is true in my mother’s grave. ‘The governor lowered the threshold, there is no accountability.’ I said that’s not true.”
Newsom then said he told the clerk, who apparently still had no idea who he was, that Prop. 47 Californias make it a felony for theft of property totaling $950 or more – the 10th hardest in the country.
Newsom made the remarks on Wednesday.
“No one cares about that,” he said, noting the clerk still blamed the governor.
“And then he left — he looked at me twice and then he panicked — he was calling everybody, wanted to take a picture,” Newsom said — a request he apparently refused.
“I was like, ‘no, we’re not taking pictures, we’re having a conversation, where’s your manager? How do you blame the governor?’” he said. “And it was $380 later, and I was like ‘Why am I spending $380, everybody can go to hell?'”
The incident happened in Sacramento—Target’s area, according to the governor’s office—though it’s unclear when it happened.
Target and other stores have struggled with shoplifting in the state. ZUMAPRESS.com
Newsom has led California since 2019. Prop 47, which lowered penalties for drug and property crimes, was signed into law in 2014, The San Francisco Standard reported.
California Republicans cheered the unnamed clerk.
“Shout out to this store clerk for saying to the governor’s face what every Californian wants to say: that he and his radicals @CA_Dem friends are to blame for rising CA crime,” state GOP chair Jessica Millan Patterson tweeted.
“Unfortunately, Newsom still doesn’t seem to be getting the hint,”
Democrats are rolling out a slew of measures aimed at tackling recently out-of-control retail theft, but won’t make changes to Prop 47, the Mercury News reported.
The new law calls on the state government to expand criminal penalties while giving authorities greater tools in the fight against property theft, his office said in a statement Wednesday night.
Newsom has invested $1.1 billion in public safety since he took office, with a focus on tackling organized retail crime, his office added.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
