Tensions between two state lawmakers representing Riverside County boiled over in Sacramento on Thursday morning, June 27, when one had to be restrained from confronting the other during an emotional discussion of a bill concerning transgender children.
Democrats have to restrain Corey Jackson after it appears Essayli made some kind of comment — unclear exactly what he said #caleg pic.twitter.com/qb4nomkoX2
— Lara Korte (@lara_korte) June 27, 2024
Video posted on X, also known as Twitter, showed Assemblymember Corey Jackson, D-Perris, being held back from approaching Assemblymember Bill Essayli, R-Corona, during an Assembly floor discussion of AB 1955. The bill would ban school districts from requiring parents to be told if their child identifies as transgender.
Debate on AB 1955 in the CA Assembly just went off the rails.
Bill would prohibit California schools from having parental notification policies if a student is transgender. @billessayli had his mic cut for discussing bill from last year, lawmakers raise numerous points of… pic.twitter.com/mcxVkBKnJ7
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) June 27, 2024
At one point, Jackson is heard shouting “You better watch yourself!” as a lawmaker pushes him back and others try to calm him down. Essayli did not leave his seat during the confrontation as other lawmakers gently put their hands on his shoulders.
Lawmakers have now created a wall between Essayli and Jackson as debate continues on the bill. pic.twitter.com/bvtumI4RYc
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) June 27, 2024
Another photo shared on X showed what appeared to be six lawmakers standing up to form a barrier between Jackson and Essayli.
In a telephone interview, Jackson said Essayli challenged a ruling of the chair and claimed to have the support of Assemblymember Kate Sanchez, R-Rancho Santa Margarita, who represents southwest Riverside County.
Jackson said he “stood up for a point of information to see if in fact that was actually true … And I think Bill Essayli just didn’t like it … He basically challenged me to basically say ‘What are you gonna do about it?’”
“To tell you the truth, I lost it,” Jackson said. “Because again, he was trying to get some red meat out of it on the backs and at the detriment of our children. I think it just crossed the line for me.”
Jackson, who is Black and LGBTQ, said: “I think sometimes Republicans don’t realize that when certain issues come up, that they’re actually attacking the humanity of different groups. And I just think that Essayli went too far and tried to score political points on something that’s deeply personal to so many of us.”
Essayli’s chief of staff, Shawn Lewis, did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
Asked if he would have handled the situation differently in hindsight, Jackson said: “To tell you the truth, I don’t know, to be honest.”
“I think it’s important, when people believe others are doing something that is wrong, particularly when we’re debating issues of humanity, I think it’s important for people to step up and to confront it,” Jackson said.
“But no, I don’t think violence is ever the answer and I’m not sure if that’s something that — even confronting him, I’m not sure if that’s something that would actually have happened.”
The atmosphere was tense going into Thursday.
Transgender notification policies such as those passed in Temecula, Murrieta and Chino Valley schools grew into intense cultural war fights between those who insist parents have a right to know everything about their children and those who see the policies as harmful to transgender students.
Opponents, including Essayli, rallied at the Capitol to stop AB 1955. Thursday’s debate about the bill featured emotional remarks by LGBTQ lawmakers.
Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside talked “about how she was not given agency over how she came out — but she made it easier for her younger sisters to do so,” POLITICO’s Lara Korte tweeted. “Some of the other members are openly crying. Lots of reaching for tissues in the chamber today.”
AB 1955 passed the Assembly 60-15 after previously passing the Senate. The vote was along party lines, with Jackson voting yes and Essayli voting no. It now goes to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his consideration.
Before the confrontation, Essayli was reprimanded “for going off-topic when opposing #ab1955,” Korte tweeted.
Essayli later said: “I wasn’t prepared to address the Chinese communist party today,” Korte wrote. She added: “We’ve seen this pattern from @billessayli frequently — where he does not follow the rules of the body and then accuses Democrats of silencing his voice.”
Essayli’s microphone was cut and he shouted at Assembly Speaker pro Tempore Jim Wood, D-Healdsburg, who was seated on the Assembly dais, Korte tweeted.
First elected in 2022 to represent a district spanning Norco, Menifee, Lake Elsinore, and Canyon Lake and parts of Eastvale, Riverside, and Corona, Essayli has made a name for himself as a conservative firebrand whose condemnations of Democratic lawmakers — he called one a “pedophile protector” on social media — have endeared him to the right.
Essayli’s sponsorship of bills requiring transgender notification policies in all California schools and targeting undocumented immigrants who sexually abuse minors died in the legislature, while his clashes with Democrats led to his ouster from the Assembly’s budget and judiciary committees.
Through it all, Essayli remains defiant.
“I did not come to Sacramento to pass more laws and regulations,” Essayli told The Sacramento Bee in June.
“I was elected to oppose the radical policies that are wreaking havoc on the lives of hard-working Californians. The job of the minority party is to become the majority party — we don’t get there by passing Democrat-approved bills in a body run by leaders who behave like dictators and silence dissenters. I do not measure my success by how well I am liked in Sacramento.”
Thursday was not the first time Essayli and Jackson, who represents Perris, Moreno Valley and parts of Riverside, San Jacinto and Hemet, have clashed.
Last summer, Jackson said Essayli, who is Muslim, is “an example of a minority becoming a white supremacist” after Essayli opposed Jackson’s bill to amend California’s affirmation action ban.
While saying he doesn’t want “to have a negative relationship with anybody,” Jackson said Thursday: “There’s no doubt that if (Essayli) continues to go down this road, I’ll be right there to continue to challenge his inhumane behavior.”
“I think it’s important for all people to know that, although we have an Inland Empire representative that I think represents the worst of us, that there’s people like me in the Inland Empire who will fight it at every turn,” Jackson added.
