California governor Gavin Newsom has accused Elon Musk of “encouraging looting” after the billionaire shared posts on his social media platform X that claimed the politician had “decriminalised” it.
“Stop encouraging looting by lying and telling people it’s decriminalized. It’s not,” Mr Newsom wrote on X, replying to one of the billionaire’s retweets.
“It’s illegal — as it always has been. Bad actors will be arrested and prosecuted.”
Mr Musk had shared a tweet in which Mr Newsom was filmed in an interview warning people against looting, but the caption read: “LOOTING: Newsom and California Democrats literally decriminalized looting, barring police from arresting looters and prosecutors from prosecuting them. Now he’s opposed to looting.”
Mr Musk’s repost was captioned with two emojis, one of a clown face and the other of the Earth.
The online feud comes as at least 20 people in California have been arrested for raiding abandoned buildings ravaged by wildfires that have swept through the wider Los Angeles area.
More than 12,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed by the fires, while more than 150,000 people have been put under evacuation notices.
LA police were forced to put in a curfew from 6pm Friday evening to 6am on Saturday within areas impacted by the fires in the Palisades and Eaton to counter looting of properties.
LA County Sheriff Roger Luna described the looting as “unacceptable behaviour” and hoped having soldiers would “help send a stronger message”.
Accusations that Mr Newsom decriminalised looting are factually incorrect. They stem from his opposition to a bill proposed last year to water down Proposition 47, an initiative passed in 2014 that reclassified a number of drug and property offences with a theft value of $950 (£778) or less from felonies to misdemeanors.
Misdemeanours are still categorised as a crime punishable by a maximum of a fine and/or imprisonment in a county jail for a year.
The proposition was passed by a state vote (close to 60 per cent voted yes) in 2014 on the basis that it would help free up prison space, afford greater focus on more serious crime and allow more resources to be directed to diversion programs, including mental health and drug abuse treatment.
In November 2024, California residents then voted to pass Proposition 36 (68 per cent said yes), which enacted harsher penalties for retail theft, property crimes and drug offences, effectively undoing parts of Proposition 47.
Mr Newsom opposed the bill and attempted to propose alternative legislation prior to the vote on Proposition 47. That proposal was withdrawn.
