Los Angeles: US President Donald Trump authorised on Monday the deployment of an additional 2,000 National Guard members and about 700 Marines to help respond to the protests in Los Angeles over his administration’s immigration raids, officials said.
The order would put them on active duty.
One official warned, however, that the order was just signed, and it could take a day or two to get troops moving. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss troop movements.
California’s Governor Gavin Newsom called the move reckless and “disrespectful to our troops” in a post on the social platform X.
“This isn’t about public safety. It’s about stroking a dangerous President’s ego,” he said.
“Trump is trying to provoke chaos by sending 4,000 soldiers onto American soil,” Newsom added.
Trump had already mobilized 2,000 National Guard members to the country’s second most populous city on Saturday, with some 300 taking up positions protecting federal buildings and officers on Sunday.
The Pentagon deployed the US Marine Corps (USMC), the country’s maritime land force service, to Los Angeles on Monday to help National Guard members respond to protests over immigration raids, officials said, as California sued Trump over his use of the Guard troops and demonstrators took to the city’s streets for a fourth day.
The Marines are being deployed from their base at Twentynine Palms in the Southern California desert to protect federal property and personnel, including federal immigration agents, US Northern Command said in a statement.
The deployment of active-duty military personnel like the USMC into a community of civilians within the US is a highly unusual measure.
Monday’s demonstrations were far less raucous, with thousands peacefully attending a rally at City Hall and hundreds protesting outside a federal complex that includes a detention center where some immigrants are being held following workplace raids across the city.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement Monday afternoon that he was confident in the police department’s ability to handle large-scale demonstrations and that the Marines’ arrival without coordinating with the police department presented a “significant logistical and operational challenge” for them.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the lawsuit over the use of National Guard troops by telling reporters that Trump had “trampled” the state’s sovereignty.
“We don’t take lightly the president abusing his authority and unlawfully mobilizing California National Guard troops,” Bonta said. He sought a court order declaring Trump’s use of the Guard unlawful and asking for a restraining order to halt the deployment.
The arrival of the National Guard followed two days of protests that began Friday in downtown Los Angeles after federal immigration authorities arrested more than 40 people that day across the city.
The smell of smoke hung in the air downtown Monday, one day after crowds blocked a major freeway and set self-driving cars on fire as police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash-bang grenades.
The law enforcement presence was heavy, with police cars from neighboring cities blocking the street in front of the federal detention facility that was a focus of the protests.
The clashes unfolded over just a few square blocks in an immense city of some 4 million people, most of whom went about their normal business on peaceful streets.
Early protests remained peaceful
On Monday, thousands flooded the streets around City Hall for a union rally ahead of a hearing for arrested labor leader David Huerta, who was freed a few hours later on a $50,000 bond. Huerta’s arrest on Friday while protesting immigration raids has become a rallying cry for people angry over the administration’s crackdown. He is the president of the Service Employees International Union California, which represents thousands of the state’s janitors, security officers, and other workers.
Early protests Monday had a calm and even joyful atmosphere at times, with people dancing to live music and buoyed by Huerta’s release.
