Several US cities brace for new anti-Trump protests
Several US cities braced for a new round of protests on Wednesday over President Donald Trump's sweeping immigration raids, as parts of Los Angeles spent the night under curfew in an effort to quell five days of unrest.
Officials were also preparing for nationwide anti-Trump demonstrations on Saturday, when tanks and armored vehicles will rumble down the streets of Washington DC, in a military parade marking the US Army's 250th anniversary and coinciding with the president's 79th birthday.
The governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott, said he will deploy the National Guard on Wednesday ahead of planned protests.
Already this week, demonstrations have broken out in Austin, Texas, New York, Atlanta and Chicago, among other cities.
A person holds a "Protesting Is Not A Crime!" sign as people demonstrate before marching downtown as protests against ICE immigration raids continue in the city in Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday. AFP
Trump's decision to send National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles has sparked a national debate on the use of military on US soil and pitted the Republican president against California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom.
Trump has claimed that the deployment prevented the violence from raging out of control, an assertion Newsom and other local officials said was the opposite of the truth.
'This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers and even our National Guard at risk. That's when the downward spiral began,' Newsom said in a video address on Tuesday.
'He again chose escalation. He chose more force. He chose theatrics over public safety. Democracy is under assault.'
Protesters demonstrate before marching downtown as protests against ICE immigration raids continue in Los Angeles, California. AFP
Newsom, who is widely expected to mount a presidential run in 2028, sued Trump and the Defense Department on Monday, seeking to block the deployment of federal troops. Trump in turn has suggested that Newsom should be arrested.
Hundreds of Marines arrived in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday under orders from Trump, who has also called up 4,000 National Guard troops to the city.
The Marines and National Guard are assigned to protect government personnel and buildings and do not have arrest authority.
People protest against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at San Antonio City Hall in San Antonio, Texas. AFP
About 700 Marines were in a staging area in the Seal Beach area about 50 km south of Los Angeles on Tuesday, awaiting deployment to specific locations, a US official said.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the deployments were not necessary and that local police could manage the protests, which have been largely peaceful and limited to about five downtown streets.
But the mayor elected to impose a curfew over one square mile of the city's downtown starting on Tuesday night after several businesses were looted during the unrest. The curfew will last several days.
Reuters
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