Homeless man arrested after Oakland water bottle assault on Gov. Newsom
OAKLAND, Calif. — A homeless man was arrested after reportedly assaulting California Governor Gavin Newsom with a water bottle during his recent visit in support of small businesses in downtown Oakland, authorities said the day after the Thursday morning incident and arrest.
Newsome was not injured in the assault, and was later heard telling reporters at the scene that “different people have different ways of saying hello,” according to the Associated Press (AP) and other media outlets.
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Newsom, who was in Oakland to promote small businesses that are beginning to re-open following the last year+ of COVID-19 pandemic related lockdowns and forced closures, was walking toward the Beastmode Barbershop owned by NFL star Marshawn Lynch at around 10:30 a.m. when the incident occurred.
A CHP officer was quick to move in and take a homeless man into custody after he allegedly threw a water bottle at California Governor Newsom Thursday morning. ABC News Channel 7 image
“He was “approached by an aggressive individual,” Fran Clader, director of communications for the California Highway Patrol, which provides security for the governor, later said in an issued statement. “Members of the governor’s security detail removed the governor from the situation and the individual was arrested by CHP officers.”
Although Clader did not provide many other details related to the incident and arrest, witnesses have since said the man, whose name has not been publicly released, threw a bottle of water at the governor. It was not immediately known if the Governor was struck by the bottle or its contents, but he did not appear injured after the incident.
The man was later booked into the Alameda County jail on suspicion of resisting an executive officer and assaulting a public official.
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Reportedly reached by telephone, a woman who identified herself as the suspect’s sister described the suspect as a homeless man with severe mental health problems, and said the allegations against him were “consistent with his past behavior.”
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Trevor Montgomery, 49, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).
Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.