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Friday, June 27, 2025

Newsom accuses Musk of encouraging looting in LA fires disinformation spat - The Guardian US

Gavin Newsom has accused the tech billionaire Elon Musk of “encouraging looting” in an escalation of a row over disinformation surrounding the deadly Los Angeles fires.

The California governor lashed out after Musk, who is President-elect Donald Trump’s wealthiest supporter, reposted a message on X – the social media platform he owns – that falsely accused the governor and his fellow Democrats of decriminalising looting.

“Stop encouraging looting by lying and telling people it’s decriminalized. It’s not,” Newsom wrote. “It’s illegal – as it always has been.”

The clash came amid concerns of a looting spree after owners who had been forced to abandon their homes as the flames spread later returned to find the contents had been burgled.

About 30 people have been arrested, most of them for suspected looting, since the fires threatened to engulf several Los Angeles neighbourhoods. One man was found at a fire-damaged home dressed as a firefighter and arrested. Two men were detained on Saturday outside the Los Angeles home of Kamala Harris – the vice-president whom Trump defeated in November to return to the White House – but were later released after no evidence of a burglary was found.

Newsom’s exchange with Musk was triggered by a user who posted a television interview in which the governor said there would be “zero tolerance for looters”.

Above the footage, the user wrote: “LOOTING: Newsom and California Democrats literally decriminalized looting, barring police from...



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