Marines arrive in LA under Trump orders as protests spread
LOS ANGELES: Hundreds of US Marines arrived in Los Angeles overnight and more were expected on Tuesday under orders from President Donald Trump, who has also activated 4,000 National Guard troops to quell protests despite objections from California Governor Gavin Newsom and other local leaders. The city has seen days of public outrage since the Trump administration launched a series of immigration raids on Friday, though local officials said the demonstrations on Monday were largely peaceful.
About half of the roughly 700 Marines that Trump ordered to Los Angeles arrived on Monday night, and the remaining troops will enter the city on Tuesday, a US official said. The US military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told KABC that more than 100 people had been arrested on Monday but that the majority of protesters were non-violent.
The Marines will protect federal property and personnel alongside Guard troops, US Northern Command said in a statement announcing the move. There were approximately 1,700 Guard troops in greater Los Angeles as of Monday, with more on the way. Trump has justified his decision to deploy active military troops to Los Angeles by describing the protests as a violent occupation, a characterisation that Newsom and Bass have said is grossly exaggerated. Newsom accused Trump of sending troops to deliberately inflame the situation and said the president's actions made it more difficult for local law enforcement to respond to the demonstrations.
In a social media post on Tuesday morning, Trump said Los Angeles would be "burning to the ground right now" if he had not deployed troops to the city. Since protests broke out on Friday they have been largely peaceful, although there have been isolated clashes, with some demonstrators throwing rocks and other objects at officers, blocking an interstate highway and setting several cars ablaze. Several businesses were looted, including an Apple store and a CVS pharmacy.
Police have responded by firing projectiles such as pepper balls, as well as flash-bang grenades and tear gas. Police said they had arrested 21 people on Sunday on charges including attempted murder with a Molotov cocktail and assaulting an officer, and officials said they expected more arrests after reviewing video. In a statement on Monday, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said the department had not been notified that any Marines were travelling to the city and that their arrival "presents a significant logistical and operational challenge."
Trump's Marine deployment escalated his confrontation with Newsom, who filed a lawsuit on Monday asserting that Trump's activation of Guard troops without the governor's consent was illegal. The Guard deployment was the first time in decades that a president did so without a request from a sitting governor.
The use of active military to respond to civil disturbances is extremely rare. "This isn't about public safety," Newsom wrote on X on Monday. "It's about stroking a dangerous President's ego." The top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Jack Reed, said he was "gravely troubled" by Trump's deployment of active-duty Marines. "Since our nation's founding, the American people have been perfectly clear: we do not want the military conducting law enforcement on US soil," he said.
US Marines are trained for conflicts around the world and are also used for rapid deployments in case of emergencies, such as threats to US embassies. In addition to combat training, which includes weapons training, some units also learn riot and crowd control techniques.
The raids are part of Trump's sweeping immigration crackdown, which Democrats and immigrant advocates have said are indiscriminately breaking up families. US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pledged on Monday to carry out more operations to round up suspected immigration violators. Trump officials have branded the protests as lawless and blamed state and local Democrats for protecting undocumented immigrants in sanctuary cities. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered on Monday outside a federal detention center in downtown Los Angeles where immigrants have been held, chanting "free them all" and waving Mexican and Central American flags. — Reuters
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