Newsom calls littered LA rail tracks ‘unacceptable,’ brings along cleanup crew

Reacting to recent media images of trash-strewn railroad tracks in Los Angeles – the result in part of thieves stealing from passing rail cars and discarding packaging – California Gov. Gavin Newsom showed up Thursday with a clean-up crew and vowed action.

And the Democrat, dressed in a T-shirt, baseball cap and coronavirus mask, pitched in himself, joining crew members from the state Department of Transportation in grabbing handfuls of debris and placing the trash in bags or in a dumpster.

"What has happened on this stretch of the Union Pacific Railroad is unacceptable," Newsom told reporters. He said the area looked like a scene from "a Third World country," according to FOX 11 of Los Angeles.

He claimed the state was committed both to prosecuting the thieves and cleaning up the messes they’ve left behind. He added that preventing further thefts was also part of the plan, FOX 11 reported.