Gov. Gavin Newsom is sharpening his rhetoric against federal immigration authorities, even as a string of violent “smash-and-grab” robberies once again underscores California’s crime problem.
The state, long plagued by organized theft rings, is experiencing another wave of mob-style robberies — the kind that first became commonplace during the COVID lockdowns.
Just this month, three major heists targeted Bay Area jewelry stores, leaving more than a million dollars in damages. According to security experts, there have been 30 violent mob-style robberies of jewelry stores in California since March alone.
One of the most brazen incidents unfolded last week outside San Francisco, where as many as 30 armed criminals stormed a jewelry store.
Wielding crowbars and pickaxes, they smashed display cases and made off with about $1 million in merchandise. New security measures locked the group inside the store, but they reportedly used firearms to shoot their way out.
Authorities have arrested seven suspects, all from Oakland and ranging in age from 17 to 31. Police believe many of them are repeat offenders, reflecting the revolving-door nature of California’s justice system.
In another case, a car rammed through Kim Hung Jewelry in the Bay Area. More than a dozen masked thieves ransacked the store, pushing the 88-year-old owner to the ground. He suffered cuts from broken glass and a stroke in the aftermath. “He is okay,” a family friend told ABC7 News. “Business is not okay. Everyone knows that situation right now. Every business is in danger.”
The crime wave has alarmed veteran investigators. “Since March, we’ve had 30 violent robberies in California targeting jewelry stores,” said Scott Guginsky, vice president of the Jewelers Security Alliance. “This is something I haven’t seen in my 30-plus years of investigating jewelry crime with the NYPD.”
President Donald Trump has seized on the violence, pointing to Oakland and Los Angeles as emblematic of what he describes as the lawlessness of Democrat-run cities.
Just last month, U.S. News & World Report ranked Oakland the second most dangerous city in the country, behind only Memphis. The rankings rely on FBI crime statistics, including murder and property crime rates.
Yet Newsom, rather than focusing on the violent crime afflicting his state, has directed his fire at federal authorities. On Stephen Colbert’s late-night program Tuesday, the governor described U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in stark, incendiary terms. “Masked men jumping out of unmarked cars, people disappearing,” he said. “No due process. No oversight, zero accountability happening in the United States of America today.”
“People ask, well, is ‘authoritarianism’ you being hyperbolic? Bulls*** we’re being hyperbolic,” Newsom continued. “If you’re a black and brown community, it’s here in this country. I mean, if some guy jumped out of an unmarked car in a van with a mask on, tried to grab me, I mean, by definition, you’re gonna push back. … These are authoritarian actions by an authoritarian government.”
The governor also took a shot at Trump directly. “We have 41 lawsuits against this son of a b****,” Newsom boasted. “We’re pushing back, and we’re winning.”
Critics argue that while Newsom devotes his energy to fighting Washington, crime continues to surge on his own doorstep. For small businesses across California, the threat is not theoretical. It is real, it is violent, and it is growing.
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