How to tell law enforcement apart from soldiers inside the LA protests

Australia Broadcast Center

3 days ago

Local law enforcement is now on the ground in Los Angeles, as well as state and federal troops, as the city braces for fresh waves of demonstrations against immigration enforcement.
The unrest in the United States' second largest city was sparked after agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, made arrests related to alleged illegal immigrants.
Local law enforcement, the California National Guard, and US Marines, who arrived in the greater LA area overnight, are now trying to manage the demonstrations. But if you're watching the protests happen in real time, how do you tell which is which?
ABC NEWS Verify spoke with Brendan Kearney, a retired colonel in the US Marine Corps, who has decades of experience working with law enforcement, and military forces, in the US, and around the world.
The two largest local agencies on the ground are the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD).
Colonel Kearney said the LAPD will usually wear a variation of a blue uniform, and those from the LASD traditionally wear green.
"The police normally wear blue. The sheriff in the tradition of California is in green uniforms," he said.
"Then you will have the California Highway Patrol, which is anything from blue to grey uniforms.
"To add complexity to this, we can have local jurisdictions that are adjacent to both Los Angeles County and Los Angeles … that will show up in uniforms that could defy colour description right now — but usually those will be in smaller numbers, and a little bit in the background," he said.
Colonel Kearney said to try and look for prominently displayed badges, camera devices, and shields — which are usually transparent, and should say "police".
"The military personnel that you may eventually see will not have those type of differentiators on them," he said.
Video and images have flooded the internet of some local law enforcement officers holding so-called less lethal weapons systems.
These weapons can shoot kinetic-impact projectiles – which can include so-called "rubber bullets".
"We've tried to make things very simple as years have gone by through some sad experience," Colonel Kearney said.
"Most of the time, you'll find that these weapon systems, the less lethal systems, have all got different highlighted colours on the barrels, have got highlighted colours throughout the system itself.
"It's all designed for the purpose of easy identification for the use of the item at the time," he said.
In a video, which has been widely shared, 9News US correspondent Lauren Tomasi was shot in the leg with a so-called rubber bullet likely by an LAPD officer.
Frame-by-frame analysis shows the officer in a blue uniform, carrying an item labelled police, and holding a less lethal weapon — which is mostly black with a small green highlight.
The video shows the officer turning to aim and firing in the reporter's direction before she yells out in pain.
She later said on X she was "a bit sore" but "OK".
US Northern Command on June 9 said approximately 1,700 soldiers from the California National Guard were in the greater Los Angeles area.
"National Guard in American history goes back to the American Revolution," Colonel Kearney said.
"Each state and territory of the United States has an obligation to maintain a quasi-military force, or military force.
"These guys are professionals. In a state like California, you have not only infantry, a ground-related National Guard, but you also have an air-related National Guard," he said.
He said they are usually controlled by the state's governor — which is the leader of a state in the US — and are mostly seen in the aftermath of events like natural disasters.
"Here's the qualifier … the president of the United States has the option of going ahead and federalising.
"Once he does that, the governor has no say," he said.
Colonel Kearney said to identify the National Guard, look for camouflage clothing, a name tag, and in California, sometimes a grizzly bear patch on one shoulder.
"We call it golden bear, although, it's not gold — it's the grizzly bear that used to live here … but normally they wear that type of identification," he said.
He said the other shoulder will usually have a patch featuring a unit insignia, and the soldier may be carrying a shield, and in some cases a weapon.
"It would not surprise me at all if the National Guard personnel out there have all been issued a small amount, five to 10 rounds of ammunition — that would only be used under very significant circumstances," he said.
Colonel Kearney added that he had not seen any published "rules of engagement" for the National Guard deployed in LA, and that some local police units may be wearing similar camouflage fatigues.
Hundreds of members of the United States Marine Corps — a highly skilled branch of the US military — have been deployed to LA from the nearby Twentynine Palms base.
The US Northern Command said the soldiers will "seamlessly integrate" with already active soldiers to protect federal property and personnel.
This is significant — the military is rarely used for direct police action within the US. The last notable deployment was under George HW Bush during the LA race riots 30 years ago.
"Marines were used specifically in counter sniper operations where unfortunately, some of the rioters were taking shots at police and Marines and other law enforcement personnel up there," Colonel Kearney, who was stationed in Japan at the time, said.
The military has been deployed domestically for major disasters like Hurricane Katrina, and after the September 11 attacks.
He said the marines in LA now will be seen in "very tight formations" working "in the background", wearing green or desert camouflage.
"They normally will only have a couple of law enforcement personnel at the far left or the far right of their formation, where the National Guard likes to have the law enforcement embedded with them," Colonel Kearney said.
"They'll have three things on the uniform that make them readily identifiable.
"Over their right breast, they will have their name. Over their left breast, there will be a scripture that says, "US Marines". And there will be an eagle, globe, and anchor (official emblem) emblazoned on their left-breast pocket."
He added the marines will likely be armed and deployed in regular tactical gear — though they have been trained in, and could use, less lethal weapons systems.
Colonel Kearney said there may be other US agencies on the ground in LA — and the uniforms of all may vary.
For example, ICE agents may be in plain clothes, but "they'll always have some type of identification on, and oftentimes, it'll be on the flak jacket", or a tactical vest which provides some protection from projectiles.
He said an LAPD officer could also be part of a team that wears camouflage — like a member of the National Guard or the Marines.