Just hours before President Donald Trump called her a “disgrace” during a televised cabinet meeting (the same meeting where he joked that he still likes Gary Cohn, even though he’s “a globalist”), Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf lashed out at Attorney General Jeff Sessions for criticizing her for behaving like a “gang lookout” by warning undocumented immigrants about an upcoming ICE raid in the Bay Area.
Sessions accused Schaaf of “needlessly endanger[ing] the lives of our law enforcement officers to promote a radical open borders agenda” during a speech where he discussed the Department of Justice’s lawsuit seeking to repeal three “sanctuary” laws passed by the state.
Schaaf accused Sessions of trying to “frighten the American public into thinking all undocumented residents are dangerous criminals,” per the Hill.
She also accused him of trying to advance a “racist” agenda.
“How dare you distort the reality about declining violent crime in a diverse sanctuary city like Oakland, California, to advance your racist agenda.”
“It was not my intention to get caught up in a national debate, but I do believe that I am speaking for the residents of my city,” she added. “The agenda of this administration is petty political vindictiveness.”
The mayor said that if the Justice Department decides to press criminal charges against her, a former US attorney who was appointed by former President Barack Obama has offered to represent Schaaf for nothing.
Schaaf has repeatedly defended her decision, saying she aimed “not to panic our residents but to protect them.”
“I did not intend to put the safety of law enforcement officers at risk,” she said. “I was very careful in not sharing any specific information…”
Still, the interim head of ICE said Schaaf’s warning marked “a new low” for the “sanctuary state” and estimated that her warning prevented the agency from locating 800 immigrants who were deemed threats to public safety.
“What she did is no better than a gang lookout yelling police when a police cruiser comes to the neighborhood except she did it to entire community of the this is beyond the pale,” said Interim ICE Director Thomas Homan.
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