No-Show Newsom

Last Thursday, El Dorado County Sheriff John D’Agostini told reporters an illegal alien “murdered my deputy,” Brian Ishmael. As the sheriff also noted, “noticeably absent from my deputy’s funeral on Tuesday, was our governor.” Asked whether Newsom’s absence was a sign of disrespect for his department and the slain officer’s family, D’Agostini said “Absolutely. Very much so.”

Brian Ishmael was a deputy in El Dorado County, which tends to vote Republican. The county courthouse in Placerville is more than 100 years old and in poor condition. An item in the state budget would have set aside $2.8 million to buy land for a new courthouse, a critical need, but Gov. Newsom duly vetoed the item. Gov. Newsom would not be the first to use the budget as political payback, but there’s more to his quarrel with El Dorado County’s Republican voters.

“America in 2019 is California in the 1990s,” Newsom recently told Politico. “The xenophobia, the nativism, the fear of ‘the other.’ Scapegoating. Talking down or past people. The hysteria. And so, we’re not going to put up with that. We are going to push back.” For their part, Republicans “are into the politics of what California was into in the 1990s..and they’ll go the same direction — into the waste bin of history, the way Republicans of the ‘90s have gone.”

Those relegated to the waste bin of history – language President Reagan, a former California governor, used for the Soviet Union – could easily believe the governor does not have their best interests in mind. Some of his other actions are also concerning.

Three years after voters rejected an initiative to end the death penalty and passed a measure to speed up executions, Gov. Newsom granted a reprieve to all 737 convicted murderers on California’s death row. These were the worst of the worst, including Richard Allen Davis, who kidnapped and killed Polly Klaas, only 12 years old.

Newsom’s reprieve also included Mexican national Luis Bracamontes, who in 2014 gunned down Sacramento County police officers Danny Oliver and Michael Davis. At his trial, the career criminal and repeat deportee said he wished he had “killed more cops.”

On October 23, the day of Brian Ishmael’s murder, Gov. Newsom said in a statement that “Jennifer and I were terribly saddened to learn that Deputy Ishmael was shot and killed this morning while courageously serving and protecting the people of El Dorado County. Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones, friends, and colleagues during this painful time.” 

The governor’s statement was uncritical of the accused murderer, Juan Carlos Vasquez Orozco, illegally present in the United States. The governor was also silent on of the sanctuary law that protected the accused murderer and hindered the investigation. The governor made no mention of “gun violence,” even though the murder weapon was a 9mm pistol registered to a person now deceased. As the murder confirmed, criminals do not follow California gun laws.

While vetoing already budgeted money for a critically needed courthouse in El Dorado County, the governor wants to spend nearly $100 million on health care for those illegally present in the United States. The governor has approved no measure that, in similar style, rewards legitimate citizens and legal immigrants for following federal and state law.

By deliberately avoiding deputy Brian Ishmael’s funeral, Gov. Newsom was only being consistent with his priorities. But it “absolutely” was disrespect for the officer, his department and his family.

Meanwhile, Sheriff D’Agostini described Brian Ishmael as “personable, easy to talk to, kind and always positive. He never had a bad day. He was a loving father and husband.”  The four-year veteran, formerly with the Placerville Police Department, leaves behind a wife and three daughters.