Marines arrive in LA as Trump vows to use ‘heavy force' against protesters

Sydney Morning Herald

a day ago

Los Angeles: Hundreds of US Marines have arrived in Los Angeles ahead of what is expected to be a fifth day of protests over the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, as officials said the cost of the extraordinary military deployment would top $US134 million ($206 million).
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump vowed to use heavy force against anyone who protested a military parade planned for Washington this weekend, and said he was prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act if he believed circumstances warranted more drastic intervention.
'If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it – we'll see,' he said. 'There were certain areas of Los Angeles last night, you could have called it an insurrection. It was terrible.'
Such a move would represent a significant escalation and allow military personnel to engage in active law enforcement against civilians on the streets of LA, rather than acting to protect federal property.
Trump has championed Saturday night's grand military parade in the capital, which celebrates the 250th anniversary of the US Army and coincides with the president's 79th birthday. Trains carrying tanks were photographed rolling into Washington ahead of the event.
'For those people that want to protest, they're going to be met with very big force,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. 'This is people that hate our country. But they will be met with very heavy force.'
The threat comes against the backdrop of violent clashes in Los Angeles, which have also spread to other cities including Dallas, Texas, over the crackdown on suspected illegal immigrants by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, or ICE.
Democrats led by Californian Governor Gavin Newsom have accused Trump and his allies of inflaming the situation in Los Angeles by quickly deploying the National Guard, then the Marines, to quell what began as relatively small demonstrations involving a few hundred people on Friday.