California sheriff reveals why he's backing felon Trump as he declares 'I am going to change teams'

A prominent California sheriff has declared his allegiance to Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election.

Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco made the proud proclamation in a video posted to social media Saturday, joking that he was 'changing teams' in the process.

The comments from the top cop in the city set between LA and Palm Springs came days after the ex-president was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, in what some contend was a hit job from the current administration.

In turn, Bianco, a well-known conservative, conceded he liked some things state leaders doing, before casting disapproval on decisions involving crime and housing.

The potential California governor said he was 'tired' of such problems - before offering a tongue-in-cheek admission that consisted of him saying he thought putting a 77-year-old felon in the White House could be a good idea.

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Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco made the proud proclamation in a video posted to social media Saturday, joking that he was 'changing teams' in the process

He declared his allegiance to the ex-president ahead of the 2024 election, despite his recent conviction.

'I think I am going to change teams,' Bianco said. 

'I think they're on to something, but I don't think they're doing enough,' he added of state leaders.

'Trump 2024, baby, let's save this country and make America great again.'

The statement came after the officer explained what he framed as a 'love affair' between state leaders and criminals.

This, he said, is based on a 'belief that criminals are not responsible for their own actions' after he crime rate in Riverside County reached 39.04 per 1,000 residents last year  - one of the highest in the country.

'They're a victim of society,' Bianco continued, before citing a supposed belief sported by state leaders that 'criminals are not responsible for their own actions.

'It's society's fault,' he went on, speaking sarcastically. 'It's businesses' fault. It's cops' fault. It might be my fault.'

He went on to note how some state leaders have criticized their respective judicial systems and law enforcement for being 'systemically racist' - a claim that has seen some repeat offenders released to combat supposed 'bias.'

They 'let them out,' the sheriff continued, lamenting how leaders in California and Washington give criminals 'housing... money... ' and even 'drugs and alcohol now.'

Bianco said he was 'tired' of such treatment, conceding that his colleagues in the Golden State have 'been wrong' to implement such guidance. 

Bianco, a well-known conservative who governs the city between LA and Palm Springs, said he liked some things state leaders doing, but expressed disapproval on certain decisions. Just before, he explained what he framed as a 'love affair' between state leaders and criminals

This, he said, is based on a 'belief that criminals are not responsible for their own actions' after he crime rate in Riverside County reached 39.04 per 1,000 residents last year - one of the highest in the country

The grizzled vet went on to claim that he  has done all in his power over the past three decades to 'keep our community safe by arresting criminals and putting them in jail,' but leaders at the state level have stood in his way. 

He lamented how these leaders and the once great state California have become somewhat pro-criminal in recent years, due to laws that have allowed violent offenders, by and large, to exploit the legal justice system. 

'For the last five years I've been very critical about our governor for slashing our budgets from corrections, for letting prisoners out early, for closing our prisons,' he said, four years after taking a knee in solidarity with Riverside protestors following the murder of George Floyd. 

'I've been critical of our state legislature for passing laws to make it harder to put people in prison.  I've been critical for their changing laws that let prisoners out early. And I've been critical of our attorney general for seemingly not caring about crime.

'I think it's time we put a felon in the White House,' the officer went on to assert. 

The Attorney General of California, Robert Andres Bonta, has held the post since 2021.

Seven years before, California passed one of the state’s biggest criminal justice reform measures in Proposition 47, to 'ensure that prison spending is focused on violent and serious offenses,' and 'to maximize alternatives for non-serious, nonviolent crime' aside from stark sentencing.

'For the last five years I've been very critical about our governor for slashing our budgets from corrections, for letting prisoners out early, for closing our prisons,' he said, four years after taking a knee in solidarity with Riverside protestors following the murder of George Floyd.

'I've been critical of our state legislature for passing laws to make it harder to put people in prison. I've been critical for their changing laws that let prisoners out early. And I've been critical of our attorney general for seemingly not caring about crime.'

Democrats, during the span, touted the guidance as both progressive and effective, but after about a decade in, are having second thoughts.

That's due to a growing sense in the state that property crimes have spiraled out of control, leading more and more state leaders to call for some sort of overhaul of the 2014 ballot measure.

It’s a major shift from a decade ago when Californians approved the initiative in hopes of seeing numbers for drug possession and property crimes dissipate, by classifying them as misdemeanors rather than felonies to misdemeanors.

The reversal from previous tough-on-crime laws has largely failed, state data shows - with shoplifting numbers not lessening since 2014, but arrests for it doing so.   

Police and retailers have also become less aggressive at engaging and apprehending shoplifters, with organized retail theft rings, flash mobs, and other similar phenomenon surfacing in the years since the pandemic.

Moreover, it remains increasingly difficult for prosecutors to aggregate charges and charge repeat shoplifters with felonies.

Gov Gavin Newsom, who supported Proposition 47 from its birth, is still adamant about the measure’s supposed benefits. 

Inmates exercise outside in the yard at San Quentin State Prison July 26, 2023 in San Rafael. Bianco on Thursday criticized laws like Proposition 47 meant to alleviate overcrowded prisons, by recategorizing some violent crimes into misdemeanors

The criminal justice reforms were spurred by a U.S. Supreme Court order to thin out the state’s overcrowded prisons

'I think it's time we put a felon in the White House,' the officer with more than 30 years' experience went on to assert

But with 2024 already underway, there’s at least one proposed measure that, if put before voters in November, would roll back portions of the law, with the mayors of two large liberal cities, San Francisco and San Jose, already throwing their weight behind the initiative. 

Meanwhile, there are at least a dozen proposals in the state Legislature to tweak or overturn the law - as officials in cities like LA and Riverside remain more hesitant to back such a ballot. 

These proposals, however, would also have to be approved by voters - just as Prop 47 did when it was passed by California voters on November 5, 2014. 

The law has since made some non-violent property crimes, where the value does not exceed $950, into misdemeanors. 

It also made some simple drug possession offenses into misdemeanors.