He unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the New York City Council from The Bronx, garnering around 3% of the vote on a platform Newsome said was "too radical".
He subsequently co-founded Black Lives Matter of Greater New York with Chivona Newsome.
"[8] Newsome has filed two ongoing civil lawsuits against the NYPD, alleging that he was assaulted by police officers and falsely arrested during two separate protests in 2017 and 2018.
[4] The New York Times stated that as people were leaving the courtroom after the acquittal of Daniel Penny for the death of Jordan Neely, Newsome, who was present in the courtroom and "...who has led daily protests during the trial — said toward Mr. Penny: 'It’s a small world, buddy.'
[10] In June 2020, then-U.S. President Donald Trump described Newsome in a tweet as a "Black Lives Matter leader.
Newsome often wears a bulletproof vest and drives a rotation of rented vehicles for security and safety purposes.