Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom (Calif.) ratified legislation in September 2022 scrapping the requirement that police, highway patrol, and corrections officers in California have to be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. The law went into effect on Jan. 1, 2023.
Felipe Gomes, one of the foreign nationals who took full advantage of Newsom's law, was arrested last week on suspicion of rape, reported the Palo Alto Daily Post.
Redwood City Police arrested Gomes at the Belmont Police Department headquarters on April 22, according to RCPD Sgt. Victor Figueroa. Gomes was reportedly charged under penal code 261 (a) (1), which concerns knowingly having sexual intercourse with an individual incapable of giving consent because of a mental disorder or developmental or physical disability.
The Brazilian national was booked into the San Mateo County Office Main Jail then later released on a $100,000 bail bond.
Belmont Police Lt. Pete Lotti indicated that Gomes was terminated the following day.
The foreign national took his oath of office on Dec. 10 during a Belmont City Council ceremony. When introducing his new recruits, Belmont Police Chief Ken Stenquist noted, "He was in the Brazilian Air Force and part of their air force police. He was a full-time police soldier and left that position when he moved to the United States. He enjoys practicing jiu jitsu and attending church when he's not working."
According to KGO-TV, prior to hiring Gomes, Chief Stenquist received warnings from the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office and the East Palo Alto Police Department that they had both rejected the Brazilian national on account of his 2017 domestic violence arrest.
'You don't want someone who in a family setting, you know, violence is a place they can escalate to.'
The charging affidavit reviewed by KGO alleged that one year into his marriage, Gomes — who is not an American citizen but apparently has a U.S. work permit — brutally beat his wife, striking her repeatedly in the face and stomach. Gomes had allegedly done so after seeing text messages on his wife's phone from her ex-boyfriend.
An officer reported at the time seeing a "large bruise that covered most of (his wife's) left cheek and scratches to her right cheek."
The state attorney reportedly factored in Gomes' claims that his wife hit and scratched him first, charged both husband and wife with battery/domestic violence, and ultimately dropped the charges.
Chief Stenquist told KGO's Dan Noyes, "Past law enforcement contact that does not result in charges are not disqualifying in of itself under policies or applicable law."
Former San Francisco Police Department commander and head of recruitment Rich Corriea noted that in such circumstances, the charges are often dropped, and that the incident should still be disqualifying.
"You don't want someone who in a family setting, you know, violence is a place they can escalate to," Corriea told KGO. "You want just the opposite. You want natural de-escalators."
In addition to casting doubt about whether Stenquist made the right call to hire Gomes, Corriea suggested that the recruitment of foreign nationals is a risky business as American-style justice and civil rights may be alien to them.
"You better make sure that you ... are hiring people that get the many nuances of the role of a police officer," said Corriea. "There's no one else, as far as I know, in our entire society that carries a gun and has the authority to shoot you under certain circumstances."
The Brazilian national will reportedly return to the San Mateo County Superior Court for an arraignment on May 21.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) is salivating at the thought of being the next president of the United States. Nothing proves this more than his new podcast, “This Is Gavin Newsom,” which he’s using to rebrand himself as more of a moderate after years of taking the most radically left positions on every single issue.
Liz Wheeler, however, isn’t falling for his ruse. That’s why she created a new segment on “The Liz Wheeler Show” called Newsom vs. Newsom, in which she exposes his political chess game.
“Gavin Newsom wants to be president so bad that he needs to radically remake who he is in order to appeal to the American people because right now, he's one of the most unappealing politicians out there,” says Liz.
His podcast, she argues, is just example after example of him “[being] chummy with a person from the right” in an effort to “portray himself as relatable” and willing “to see the other side's point of view.”
The reason he chose a podcast to make this pseudo-transition to the center is “to collect the sound bites of him saying these ostensibly centrist things” so that when “he actually launches his bid for president … he is going to have an absolute library of sound bites that he can trot out any time one of us says, ‘Actually, Gavin Newsom is one of the most radical governors and politicians in the entire country,"’ Liz explains.
For example, on his debut episode of “This Is Gavin Newsom,” he interviewed none other than Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk. During the conversation, Newsom agreed that biological males competing in women’s sports is unfair.
“It’s an issue of fairness. I completely agree with you on that,” he told Kirk, before adding, “There's also a humility and a grace that these poor people are more likely to commit suicide, have anxiety and depression, and the way that people talk down to vulnerable communities is an issue that I have a hard time with.”
This is exactly the kind of “sound bite” Liz is talking about. Newsom will use this clip in the future to appear moderate when the issue of biological men competing in female athletics comes up.
But here’s the truth we all need to be armed with when that day comes: Gavin Newsom has been the governor of California since 2019, which means he’s had years to enact policies that would protect women from men competing in women's sports. And he’s never done it.
“Every time Gavin Newsom had an opportunity to do this, he chose the transgender ideology,” says Liz.
For example, in 2024, California “prohibited schools from creating policies that would require teachers or school administrators to notify parents if their son or daughter requests to identify with neo-pronouns or change their names or use the bathroom of the opposite sex or play on a girls' sports team.”
“Gavin Newsom presides as governor of California over the California Department of Education,” and “the education code allows men to play on girls' sports teams. Gavin Newsom has the authority and the power to stop that, and yet he didn't,” says Liz.
Further, back in 2022, Newsom “signed a bill into law making California what he calls a ‘sanctuary state’ for transgender-identifying children.”
“The reality of his actions demonstrate without a shred of doubt that Gavin Newsom has not changed his mind on any of these issues,” says Liz. “He has had six years to protect women in sports, and he has not done it; he has done the opposite and made girls less safe playing sports.”
To hear more of Liz’s commentary, watch the episode above.
To enjoy more of Liz’s based commentary, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Most people are opposed to teen sex trafficking, wholeheartedly, and they act like it. It’s a pathetic disgrace that Democrats in California can’t be bothered to do the same.
A bill facilitates the state taking kids from their parents if they resist a child’s desire to 'socially' or 'medically transition.'
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