Man charged with assaulting Gavin Newsom in Oakland after ‘aggressive’ behavior, CHP says

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California Highway Patrol officers arrested and charged a man with assaulting Gov. Gavin Newsom in Oakland on Thursday after he approached the governor aggressively, CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader said.

“Yesterday 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,” Clader wrote in an email to The Bee. “The California Highway Patrol is investigating this incident.”

Newsom was visiting small businesses in the city for a press conference.

Officers arrested a 54-year-old Berkeley man and charged him with resisting an executive officer and with assaulting a public official, Clader said.

Newsom did not appear to be harmed and continued on normally with the event.

“Just a gentleman wanted to say hello,” Newsom said when asked by reporters about the incident. “We all have our different ways of expressing ourselves.”

The man is booked in Santa Rita Jail, according to Alameda County records. His bail is set at $35,000.00.