Whitaker: Support for law enforcement is declining
California governor signs law allowing citizens to refuse to help an officer; former acting attorney general Matt Whitaker reacts.
Former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said a new measure that lets Californians refuse to help police officers is sending the wrong message.
"I would say that at a time where support for law enforcement in our major cities is on the decline, this sends the wrong message to the men and women in blue," Whitaker said on "The Story with Martha MacCallum" on Wednesday.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill in question into law on Tuesday. It no longer requires any "able-bodied person 18 years of age or older" in the state to help an officer who requests assistance during an arrest.
CALIFORNIA GOV. NEWSOM CALLS TRUMP INCOMPETENT IN INAUGURAL SPEECH; VOWS TO FIGHT WH POLICIES
More from Fox News
According to The Sacramento Bee, the California Posse Comitatus Act of 1872 was a common-enough type of measure in the country’s early days, but Sen. Bob Hertzberg, a Los Angeles Democrat who sponsored the new bill, called the old law a “vestige of a bygone era."
Whitaker hoped the law wouldn't hinder someone who wanted to help police officers from helping.
"And I know as an American ... if I'm asked by police officers something that I'm willing and able to do, I would help them ... and expect that they wouldn't put me in harm's way," Whitaker said.
Whitaker said officers deserve the support of citizens.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox