
Troops sent by Trump reach protest-hit Los Angeles over governor's wishes
The US military said 300 soldiers from the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team had been sent to three separate locations in the greater Los Angeles area, and were "conducting safety and protection of federal property & personnel."
Helmeted troops in camouflage gear and carrying guns could be seen in front of a federal complex -- including a detention center -- with the phrase "Our City" spray-painted on it in downtown Los Angeles.
The deployment overrode the protests of local officials, an extraordinary move not seen in decades that California Governor Gavin Newsom slammed as "purposefully inflammatory."
It came ahead of more planned protests in the city, which has a large Latino population, including a call by organizers for a "mass mobilization" at City Hall at 2:00 pm local time (2100 GMT).
A separate Pride parade in support of LGBTQ rights -- also under assault by the Trump administration -- also began Sunday in Hollywood, with organizers posting on Instagram that they were working with local law enforcement to keep the celebrations safe.
"Trump is sending 2,000 National Guard troops into LA County -- not to meet an unmet need, but to manufacture a crisis," Newsom posted on X Sunday.
"He's hoping for chaos so he can justify more crackdowns, more fear, more control. Stay calm. Never use violence. Stay peaceful."
Newsom's warning came after Los Angeles was rocked by two days of confrontations that saw federal agents firing flash-bang grenades and tear gas toward crowds angry at the arrests of dozens of migrants.
On Sunday pepper spray hung in the air from overnight, AFP reporters said.
'Escalation'
Republicans lined up behind Trump to dismiss the pushback by Newsom and other local officials against the National Guard deployment.
"I have no concern about that at all," Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson told ABC's "This Week", accusing Newsom of "an inability or unwillingness to do what is necessary".
As for threats by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday to send in active-duty Marines on top of the Guard troops, Johnson said he did not see that as "heavy-handed."
"We have to be prepared to do what is necessary," he argued.
Demonstrators that AFP spoke to said troops were not really being sent in to keep order.
"I think it's an intimidation tactic," said Thomas Henning.
"These protests have been peaceful. There's no one trying to do any sort of damage right now and yet you have the National Guard with loaded magazines and large guns standing around trying to intimidate Americans from exercising our first amendment rights."
Estrella Corral said demonstrators were angry that hard-working migrants who have done nothing wrong were being snatched by masked immigration agents.
"This is our community, and we want to feel safe," she told AFP.
"Trump deploying the National Guard is ridiculous. I think he's escalating, he's trying to make a show for his agenda."
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said the move demonstrated "Trump's authoritarianism in real time."
"Conduct massive illegal raids. Provoke a counter-response. Declare a state of emergency. Call in the troops," he wrote on social media, adding: "Unacceptable."
'Unacceptable'
The National Guard -- a reserve military -- is frequently used in natural disasters, and occasionally in instances of civil unrest, but almost always with the consent of local authorities.
It is the first time since 1965 that a president has deployed a National Guard without a request by a state governor, the former head of Human Rights Watch, US activist Kenneth Roth, posted on X.
Trump has delivered on a promise to crack down hard on undocumented migrants -- who he has likened to "monsters" and "animals" -- since taking office in January.
Raids by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency in other US cities have triggered small-scale protests in recent months, but the Los Angeles unrest is the biggest and most sustained against Trump's immigration policies so far.
A CBS News poll taken before the Los Angeles protests showed a slight majority of Americans still approved of the immigration crackdown.
"Mexicans living in the United States are good men and women, honest people who went to the United States to seek a better life for themselves and to support their families. They are not criminals! They are good men and women!" she said.
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France 24
13 minutes ago
- France 24
Japan says two Chinese aircraft carriers seen in Pacific
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France 24
42 minutes ago
- France 24
(How) Do the LA protests compare to the 1992 riots?
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France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Gavin Newsom: California's governor takes on Trump, woos embattled Democrats
Immigration protests in Los Angeles are proving a stern test of Gavin Newsom 's leadership of California, but the unrest also hands the ambitious governor a unique opportunity, say analysts, as he weighs a presidential run in 2028. Rarely a shrinking violet, the 57-year-old chief executive of the country's largest and richest state has eagerly taken up the Democratic Party 's cudgel against President Donald Trump 's immigration crackdown. On Monday, shortly after Trump ordered active-duty Marines into Los Angeles to put down the demonstrations, Newsom slammed the move as "deranged". "US Marines have served honorably across multiple wars in defence of democracy," Newsom posted on X. "They shouldn't be deployed on American soil facing their own countrymen to fulfill the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial president. This is un-American." Newsom spent the weekend attacking his Republican opponent, accusing him of deliberately stoking tensions by deploying California's National Guard to downtown LA. A presumed frontrunner for the Democratic leadership, Newsom has made no secret of his political ambitions and appears to be relishing his chance for a public showdown with Trump. As the latest front in Trump's immigration crackdown played out on the streets, the Democrat was brawling on social media, vowing to sue Trump over a "serious breach of state sovereignty". California Attorney General Rob Bont on Monday announced plans to sue the Trump administration. He said the lawsuit would ask the court 'to set aside the president's unlawful action" against California's state rights. Newsom promptly shared the information on social media, declaring that California would "stand up" for the constitutional principle of "governance by civil, not military rule". "Every political crisis is a political opportunity," Jeff Le, a former senior official in California state politics who negotiated with the first Trump administration, told AFP. "In California, where President Trump polls at 30 percent, it's a potential gift for the governor to showcase stark differences between the two." 'Come and get me, tough guy' Those differences were all too apparent as Trump upbraided the Democrat for a "horrible job", while the president's "border czar", Tom Homan, threatened to arrest Newsom over any interference with deportations. Newsom's initial response to Homan, during an MSNBC interview and in subsequent posts on his own social media: 'Come and get me, tough guy.' On Monday Trump seemed to agree with his border chief, telling reporters, 'I would do it if I were Tom.' 'I think it's great. Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing,' Trump added. "He's done a terrible job. Look – I like Gavin, he's a nice guy, but he's grossly incompetent, everybody knows." Homan later said there was 'no discussion' about actually arresting Newsom, but reiterated that 'no one's above the law". Homan rowed back his comments after the Newsom's fiery interview with MSNBC. Newsom's defiant showing would delight a Democratic base "desperate for a fighter", Le noted. But he warned that a prolonged stand-off in LA – and particularly an escalation of violence or vandalism – could erode public sympathy, especially if Trump seeks to target California's federal funding. 'Face of Democratic resistance' A former mayor of San Francisco, Newsom has been at the helm of the Golden State for six years, making it a haven for liberal priorities such as abortion access and anti-deportation "sanctuary cities". He has been talked of as a future Democratic president for years, and has bolstered his national profile with bold overtures beyond his own state, including debating Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Fox News. But he has courted controversy on his own side for appearing at times too chummy with Republicans, a criticism fueled by the launch in March of a podcast featuring friendly chats with provocative right-wing guests. His reputation also lost some of its sheen among centrists during the pandemic, when he was slammed by business owners for onerous public health restrictions. A lunch that Newsom attended with lobbyists at an opulent Napa Valley restaurant during the partial lockdown became infamous. An Economist/YouGov poll released last week showed Newsom has ground to make up, as his net popularity rating of -13 points is significantly worse than Trump's still underwhelming -7 points. "There's no question Gavin Newsom is trying to use this moment to elevate his national profile, casting himself as the face of Democratic resistance to Donald Trump," said veteran political strategist Charlie Kolean. But the analyst cautioned that Newsom would damage his presidential ambitions if voters thought he was taking the side of criminals over security forces in his drive to be seen as a defender of civil rights. "Voters overwhelmingly want law and order – it's one of the core issues Trump ran on and won big with," Kolean told AFP.