President Donald Trump Trump has said he will not sign legislation to fund the government if it does not include $5 billion for a border wall. | Zach Gibson-Pool/Getty Images white house Suspect arrested following death of California police officer Trump cited in wall push

A suspect was arrested Friday after President Donald Trump highlighted the killing of a California police officer by a man authorities say was in the U.S. illegally as a reason to fund a wall along the border with Mexico.

“There is right now a full scale manhunt going on in California for an illegal immigrant accused of shooting and killing a police officer during a traffic stop,” Trump tweeted. “Time to get tough on Border Security. Build the Wall!”


The two-day statewide manhunt ended Friday with the arrest of Gustavo Perez Arriaga, who came out with his hands up as a SWAT team prepared to raid a home in Bakersfield, California.

Ronil Singh, a Newman, Calif., police officer, was shot and killed during a traffic stop early Wednesday in an incident involving a suspect he believed to be driving drunk.

Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson, who led the investigation, blamed California's sanctuary law for preventing local authorities from reporting Perez Arriaga to U.S. immigration officials for deportation after two previous drunken driving arrests.

"We can't ignore the fact that this could have been preventable," Christianson told reporters, according to the Associated Press, asking why the state was "providing sanctuary for criminals (and) gang members. It's a conversation we need to have."



Perez Arriaga crossed the border in Arizona several years ago and had worked a variety of jobs as a laborer, including at several dairies. The 33-year-old had gang affiliations and multiple Facebook pages with different names, Christianson said.

Gov. Jerry Brown has said the law strikes a balance between protecting families and ensuring consequences for serious criminals. His spokesman said Friday that if the suspect was a known gang member, police could have provided that information to federal authorities.

"California law fully permits the sharing of information on dangerous gang members," spokesman Evan Westrup said, according to AP.

Trump has said he will not sign legislation to fund the government if it does not include $5 billion for a border wall. No deal to end the partial government shutdown is in sight, however.

