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Gov Newsom outside Sacramento bubble, shocked by ‘third-world’ LA scene: ‘What the hell is going on?’

January 21, 2022 | | Print Article

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) ventured out of his Sacramento bubble Thursday to visit a stretch of Union Pacific (UP) railroad tracks in Los Angeles, and he wasn’t pleased with what he saw.

“The images looked like a Third World country,” Newsom told reporters. “What you saw here in the last week is just not acceptable. So, I took off the suit and tie and said I’m coming because I couldn’t take it. I can’t turn on the news anymore. What the hell is going on?”

In another of his well-staged photo ops, the suitless, tieless Newsom could be seen clearing the shredded packaging from thousands of goods stolen from shipping containers off the tracks.

His apparent shock at the situation comes after video of the ransacked tracks went viral last week, prompting outrage from Angelinos and threats from United Pacific to abandon the City of Angels if the situation isn’t remedied.

In a letter written late last week to Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, Adrian Guerrero, director of UP public affairs, estimated that approximately 90 shipping containers have been compromised by bands of thieves, adding that the problem has become so bad, Union Pacific is now evaluating “serious changes to our operating plans to avoid Los Angeles County.”

Organized crime rings and petty thieves alike have found a way to exploit a weak link in the supply chain, experts told the Los Angeles Times. Trains loaded with goods ordered online are often forced to wait to enter congested freight yards, leaving them vulnerable to attack.  Said Keith Lewis of cargo theft tracker CargoNet, “a train at rest is a train at risk.”

To make matters worse, Union Pacific, in charge of security along its tracks, has reportedly slashed its private police force, according to both former employees and police. “Union Pacific from Yuma, Arizona, to L.A. has six people patrolling,” Los Angeles Police Capt. German Hurtado told the Times. “It’s like digging sand at the beach,” Hurtado, whose precinct includes the assaulted tracks.

Union Pacific, a publicly-traded company based in Omaha, “is worth $155 billion and reported record profits on Thursday,” the Times reported, begging the question, why did UP cut its security detail? According to the report, “The other major railroad operator, BNSF, said it has not seen the same level of theft around its facilities”

While UP would not confirm how many agents it employs, it did note that thefts have jumped a whopping 160% since December 2020. According to LAPD data, 122 people have been arrested by various agencies along UP tracks between the months of February and December 2021.

Newsom puts the number of arrests at an even higher 280, stating those responsible should be held to account.

POLITICO’s Jeremy B. White covered the Governor’s photo op on Twitter, noting Newsom’s continued obsession over political correctness and public perceptions in the face of complete chaos.

Robert Vega, who lives near the tracks, told the Times he noticed a sharp spike in thefts about seven months ago, coinciding, not surprisingly, with a reduction in police presence. On any Friday night, Vega claims, “you could see sparks flying” as thieves cut the locks. “I can come out at night and there are trucks loading up. It’s insane.”

According to former San Diego mayor and California candidate for governor, Kevin Faulconer, if Newsom truly wants to know “what the hell is going on,” the answer is simple:

Melissa Fine
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