Gavin Newsom Just Gave the Finger to Every Family Member of a Crime Victim, but He Doesn't Care

Just hours after the Democrats emerged victorious in the midterm elections, the slick governor gave a huge finger (you know which one) to the families of crime victims everywhere when he commuted the sentences of California’s 548 death row inmates, a list which includes child rapists, sadists, and the worst of humankind. See: CA Voters Said, Speed Up Executions; Newsom Said, How About Commutation and a Rehab Center Instead?

Since 1972, the California electorate has affirmed their support for the death penalty at least six times by voting for measures allowing it and against initiatives to ban it.

What happened to Democracy and the will of the people, Mr. Newsom?

Newsom’s move is more symbolic than anything else, since he placed a moratorium on the practice shortly after taking office in 2019. He claims he objects to the death penalty on moral grounds, but he’s arguably really signaling to the leftists in this country that he’s down for The Cause as he gears up for what feels like an inevitable presidential run.

But does he care about the ruined lives behind the headlines?

Career criminal Richard Allen Davis was sentenced to death for kidnapping and kiIIing 12-year-old Polly Klaas.

He gave her family the middle finger at his sentencing.

Newscum just commuted his death sentence. pic.twitter.com/UXj6VmOM9G

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 6, 2026

It’s the largest commutation of death sentences in modern American history. Personally, I find showing any mercy whatsoever to Richard Allen Davis objectionable, but Gavin Newsom is suddenly Mr. Morality:

Mr. Newsom said he made the decision because he finds capital punishment morally objectionable. He reduced every death sentence to life in prison without parole, a sweeping move that will require a review by the state’s highest court in some cases and could draw legal challenges.

“State-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values, undermines the foundations of our legal system and diminishes each of us,” Mr. Newsom wrote in an open letter to California residents. “I know we cannot execute people in our imperfect legal system and remain true to our core values, first among them justice and human decency.”

And here I thought Democrats were against white supremacists:

Todd Givens and Billy Joe Johnson, both members of white supremacist gangs previously sentenced to death in California, are among the 548 inmates whose sentences Gavin Newsom is seeking to commute to life in prison without the possibility of parole. pic.twitter.com/t85HxsocDz

— Stu Smith (@thestustustudio) November 5, 2026

Both Givens and Johnson were convicted of multiple murders, but now they’ll get to live into their old age.

Danielle van Dam won’t. Did Newsom take into account the 7-year-old’s awful fate? She was abducted from her bedroom in the middle of the night in 2002, killed, and then her body was discovered 25 days later, dumped by the side of a road.

Yes, I know, these details are deeply disturbing, but that’s why it’s equally disturbing that Newsom has decided this is his hill to die on.

This post by van Dam’s traumatized neighbor is long, but I encourage you to click on it and read the whole thing. This is the real damage that the criminals whom the Left coddles inflict upon society:

I have been waiting 24 years for my neighbor David Westerfield to be executed for the kidnapping and murder of my 7-year-old neighbor, Danielle van Dam. And now thanks to @GavinNewsom, it looks like it will never happen.

I was 13 when he abducted her from her bedroom in the… https://t.co/d234gAMz3p pic.twitter.com/yV9I0Uet1n

— Christina Buttons (@buttonslives) November 5, 2026

Here’s an abridged version of the heartbreaking post:

I have been waiting 24 years for my neighbor David Westerfield to be executed for the kidnapping and murder of my 7-year-old neighbor, Danielle van Dam. And now thanks to @GavinNewsom, it looks like it will never happen.

I was 13 when he abducted her from her bedroom in the middle of the night in 2002. I would never equate what I experienced with what her family suffered, but Danielle's murder devastated our whole neighborhood, and me personally. I was a sensitive kid and it was a major contributor to my mental health decline in adolescence…

It's especially insulting to hear Newsom go on about morality, as if he is morally superior to those of us whose lives were affected by these heinous crimes and who want to see the perpetrators brought to justice. I'm hoping the California Supreme Court can stop Westerfield's commutation.

Here are the real stories behind Newsom’s sudden attack of morals (even though he’s shown a stunning disregard for them in the past):

Gavin Newsom just spared the lives of dozens of serial killers for a publicity stunt as he leaves office and runs for President. You cannot make up a more cartoon version of a slimy politician. pic.twitter.com/TPuEaYvbrL

— Joseph Kahn (@JosephKahn) November 5, 2026

Newsom is obviously and cravenly ramping up his efforts for his presidential campaign. Many commenters on social media have scoffed when I bring them stories about the perversities of the “California Model,” but I doubt they’re so blissfully arrogant after Tuesday’s election results. This kind of madness is what the Left wants to inflict on the whole of America, and if you live in a red state, don’t think you’re immune to it.

Just ask the folks who reside in Texas.

Donald Trump’s message was salient when he was shot in the ear at a 2024 Butler campaign rally: “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!” Never has that been more true than now.