A street interview filmed in Los Angeles is generating significant national attention after a man who identified himself as a formerly incarcerated individual stated he plans to support Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) in a potential 2028 presidential run — specifically because Newsom approved his release from a life sentence.
The moment was captured by independent journalist Nick Shirley, who has gained a national following for his investigative work.
Shirley was conducting a man-on-the-street video, asking pedestrians whether they would consider voting for Newsom in the next presidential election.
During the exchange, a middle-aged man wearing blue shorts delivered a response that stopped Shirley in his tracks.
“I vote for him because he got me released. I’m coming home from a life sentence,” the man told Shirley on camera.
Shirley asked the man to elaborate on the circumstances of his release. The man responded that Newsom “signed off saying I’m fit for society.”
The man then confirmed he would support Newsom in a future presidential election.
When Shirley pressed further and asked what the man had been incarcerated for, he answered directly: “murder, carjacking, and robbery.”
The clip spread rapidly across social media platforms and drew immediate reaction from conservative commentators nationwide.
Under California law, governors hold final authority over life-sentence paroles after receiving recommendations from the state’s Board of Parole Hearings.
The board evaluates factors including rehabilitation efforts, behavior while incarcerated, input from crime victims, and public safety risk before forwarding a recommendation to the governor.
Since taking office, Governor Newsom has granted a total of 271 pardons, 166 commutations, and 43 reprieves.
Commutations do not automatically release an individual but instead make a person eligible to appear before the Board of Parole Hearings at an earlier date than originally scheduled.
Social media reactions to the Nick Shirley clip included one user stating, “This is the most Dem California thing I’ve ever seen LOLOLOLOL.”
Another user penned, “Usually, when things are so absurd they’re not real. But California is so absurd to begin with, that none of this is even slightly surprising. Gavin Newsom has torched the state.”
A third said, “Gavin Newsom and the Democrats have pretty much locked up the votes of dead Americans and felons,” adding,” maybe one day soon they’ll start trying to appeal to alive, law-abiding Americans too.”
A fourth wrote, “We’re so broken. I’m a Christian. So I’ll pray for even the worst offenders to repent and be saved. But we’ve become a society that sympathizes with the criminals and not the victims. And it happens far too often.”
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has stated that California’s broader early release landscape has also been shaped by Proposition 57, a ballot measure approved by voters in 2016.
WATCH:
Known as the Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act, Proposition 57 changed how nonviolent offenders are released on parole.
Under Proposition 57, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation incentivized incarcerated people to take responsibility for their own rehabilitation by providing credit-earning opportunities for sustained good behavior, as well as participation in in-prison programs and activities.
