Pentagon sends 700 Marines to Los Angeles as demonstrations continue

The National

a day ago

The Pentagon is sending about 700 active-duty US Marines and an additional 2,000 members of the National Guard in response to protests in Los Angeles.
A defence official told Bloomberg on Monday that the Marines are based in Twentynine Palms, California. It was not immediately clear when they would actually be posted to Los Angeles.
'This isn't about public safety. It's about stroking a dangerous President's ego,' California's Governor Gavin Newsom said about the decision. 'This is reckless. Pointless. And disrespectful to our troops.'
The unusual domestic military presence came as Mr Newsom and President Donald Trump traded blame for the protests that have rocked Los Angeles after immigration raids in the second-largest US city.
Law-enforcement officers clashed with demonstrators at the weekend, after immigration authorities staged raids in the city's fashion district and other places over the past week. Police were braced for more protests after ordering demonstrators to go home.
'We made a great decision in sending the National Guard to deal with the violent, instigated riots in California. If we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated,' Mr Trump said in a Monday post on his Truth Social platform, criticising Mr Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass for their response to the protests.
'They choose to lie to the people of California and America by saying that we weren't needed, and that these are 'peaceful protests'. Just one look at the pictures and videos of the violence and destruction tells you all you have to know.'
Mr Trump also said he would arrest Mr Newsom, if he were border chief Tom Homan.
Federal security agents on Saturday confronted protesters demonstrating against immigration raids in the Paramount area of south-east Los Angeles, with a second protest developing in the city's downtown area on Saturday night.
Protests intensified on Sunday, as demonstrators blocked a major motorway, throwing rocks, electric scooters and other items on to police vehicles. Several self-driving Waymo cars were set on fire.
Vandalism and looting were reported by area businesses overnight on Sunday, with graffiti visible on several buildings. Police have declared the whole downtown Los Angeles area as an 'unlawful assembly', although there were indications that protests would continue, with rallies and other events planned.
In response to the unrest, Mr Trump activated 2,000 National Guard troops to support local police agencies. It is the first time since 1965 that a president has sent in a state's National Guard without a request from the governor.
Mr Newsom has said the National Guard was unnecessary as the situation was already under control. He said that he had requested in a letter that Mr Trump remove them, calling their presence unlawful and a 'serious breach of state sovereignty'. He added in a later post that he would be suing Mr Trump over the decision to send in the troops.
'Donald Trump has manufactured a crisis and is inflaming conditions,' Mr Newsom wrote in a post on social media late Sunday night. 'If he can't solve it, we will. To the bad actors fuelling Trump's flames – California will hold you accountable.'
Los Angeles Mayor Ms Bass made similar comments during a media conference on Sunday. 'What we're seeing in Los Angeles is chaos that is provoked by the administration,' she said. 'This is about another agenda. This isn't about public safety.'
Mr Trump, meanwhile, has said Mr Newsom and Ms Bass should thank him and also apologise for the 'absolutely horrible job that they have done, and this now includes the ongoing LA riots'.
'These are not protesters, they are troublemakers and insurrectionists,' he said.
Police have been using mounted officers, non-lethal ammunition and tear gas to control crowds. An Australian journalist who was covering the event on live TV was hit with what was believed to be a rubber bullet as she reported from the protests.
Lauren Tomasi of 9News was speaking to a camera on Sunday when an officer behind her suddenly raised their firearm and fired a non-lethal round at close range. The video shows Ms Tomasi scream and limp away, but she can be heard assuring the film crew that she was 'good'.
British photographer Nick Stern told newspaper The Times that he was hit with a 'sponge bullet' while he was covering a stand-off between protesters and law enforcement. Scores of protesters have been arrested so far, in addition to the immigration-related detentions made over the past several days.
Mr Trump wrote on social media that the National Guard troops were doing a 'great job'.
'These radical left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will not be tolerated,' he said. In a later post, he demanded that all people wearing masks be arrested. Police and immigration enforcement agents have also been seen wearing masks during the protests.
The President said that the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department had reported protesters – whom he described as 'thugs' and 'paid insurrectionists' – were getting 'very much more aggressive'.
'These past few nights we've seen a level [of violence] that disgusts every good person in this city,' Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said on Sunday. Police have said they will clear streets and protect lives but will not take part in immigration enforcement.
Mr Trump appeared to condone the use of force against protesters reportedly spitting at law enforcement officers.
"If they spit, we will hit,' he wrote on Truth Social. "The insurrectionists have a tendency to spit in the face of the National Guardsmen/women, and others ... and I promise you they will be hit harder than they have ever been hit before. Such disrespect will not be tolerated!"
The Trump administration has made cutting down on illegal immigration a cornerstone of its domestic policy, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents carrying out an increased number of raids in cities across the country. The White House recently set a goal for its agents to arrest at least 3,000 migrants a day. Thousands have been swiftly deported, sometimes without due process.
California is home to more than two million undocumented immigrants, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. About 800,000 were believed as of last year to be residing in the Los Angeles area, which is in the southern part of the state, not far from the border with Mexico.