Berkeley man, 54, is arrested after ‘throwing a water bottle’ at California Governor Gavin Newsom

A 54-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly throwing a bottle of water at California Gov. Gavin Newsom in Oakland on Thursday afternoon.

The governor was in town promoting small businesses when the man approached him on Washington Street in Old Oakland and allegedly threw the bottle.

CHP officers swooped in to remove the man, who was arrested on suspicion of resisting an executive officer, as well as assaulting a public official. 

The suspect has not yet been publicly identified by police. 

‘This morning, the Governor was approached by an aggressive individual. Members of the Governor’s security detail removed the Governor from the situation and the individual was arrested by CHP officers,’ the California Highway Patrol said in a statement. 

Newsom, for his part, did not appear to be injured during the alleged assault. He went on to joke to reporters that it was just a different way of being greeted. 

‘Just a gentleman wanted to say hello,’ Newsom retorted, according to the Sacramento Bee. ‘We all have our different ways of expressing ourselves.’

California Gov. Gavin Newsom was in Oakland promoting small businesses when a 54-year-old man approached him and allegedly threw a bottle at him

CHP swooped in to detain the suspect, a Berkeley native who was booked at the Santa Rita Jail

The man was arrested on suspicion of resisting an executive officer, as well as assaulting a public official

KCRA reports that a woman who identifies as the suspect’s sister claimed that the suspect is homeless and severely mental ill.

She also said the allegations were ‘consistent with his past behavior.’  

The CHP is responsible for the governor’s security. They are actively investigating the incident. 

Reporters on the scene didn’t witness the alleged incident, but did see CHP swoop in to detain the suspect, a Berkeley native who was booked at the Santa Rita Jail.

When the suspect was booked into jail, his occupation was listed as ‘pumping gas’ in the booking log.

His bail has been set at $35,000 and he is scheduled to be arraigned in Dublin on Monday. 

The suspect – who has not been identified publicly – allegedly threw a water bottle at Newsom before being detained by CHP

Newsom was promoting small businesses, and also met locals on a walk around town

Newsom did not appear to be injured during the alleged assault

Newsom is currently coping with a massive heatwave in California, which has the state’s electrical grid on the verge of a crisis.

Newsom declared a state of emergency on Thursday after temperatures across the state soared past 100 degrees Fahrenheit and reached nearly 130 degrees in Death Valley, where its own 1913 record for hottest air temperature ever reported on Earth could be broken.  

California is looking to avoid the woes of last summer, when rolling power outages plagued residents for several days during a heatwave.  

On Wednesday, the California Independent System Operator, the main power grid operator in the state, also issued an alert, asking for a five-hour voluntary electricity conversation effort on Thursday from 5pm to 10pm, peak usage times.

Many of the provisions in the state of emergency are set to expire on Saturday night, though some last into next week.

Newsom is also facing a political fight as Californians seek to have him removed from office. 

Newsom, for his part, did not appear to be injured during the alleged assault. He went on to joke to reporters that it was just a different way of being greeted

Gavin Newsom tries a slice of pizza during a visit to Graffiti Pizza in Oakland

In April, the campaign to recall Newsom – which could see him ousted from office – passed the 1,495,709 signatures required to qualify for the ballot. 

A recall vote will take place on an as-yet unannounced date this year. It will see voters asked whether they wish to recall Newsom. If more than 50 percent of voters say yes, he will be replaced.

Voters will also be asked who they want to replace him, with the candidate who receives the most votes then replacing Newsom as governor.  

The recall movement has mostly centered around Newsom’s handling of the pandemic.

Critics have panned Newsom’s restrictive lockdown measures on schools and businesses during the pandemic.

They claim California did no better with COVID cases, hospitalization and deaths than Republican states including Texas and California which had far less restrictive measures.  

Newsom was also publicly slammed after he was seen dining at luxurious French Laundry restaurant in November 2020, where he and a party of 10 or more people were seen without face masks and none were practicing social distancing.

At the time, the state had a ban on indoor dining, with the governor urging Californians to stay at home. 

Newsom himself has dubbed the recall effort a ‘partisan, Republican recall’ backed by right wing extremist groups like QAnon and the Proud Boys. 

Republican challengers to Newsom include John Cox and former gold medal winning Olympian, as well as reality television star Caitlin Jenner.