(Eric Thayer/Getty Images)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wildfire relief fund, created to help victims of the January 2025 Los Angeles-area fires rebuild their lives, spent millions of dollars on unrelated public safety operations, including crowd-control efforts during anti-deportation demonstrations later that year, according to newly released California Department of Finance records cited by the Washington Examiner on Tuesday.
State financial documents show that $12.8 million from the Los Angeles Wildfire Response and Recovery Fund was used to cover costs associated with deploying California Highway Patrol officers to monitor and police protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in downtown Los Angeles during the summer of 2025.
According to a breakdown included in the latest report on fund expenditures, the money paid for activities that included “traffic control, tactical alert, and monitoring of demonstrations to ensure safety of the public and assist other government agencies.”…