An unprecedented show of force: Four days after violent riots began in Los Angeles over the deportation of migrants, President Donald Trump has escalated the conflict with local authorities in the state of California.
President Donald Trump's administration said Monday it was sending 700 US Marines and thousands more National Guard troops to Los Angeles, sparking a furious response from California's governor over the "deranged" deployment. 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.
On Monday, the fourth day of protests against immigration raids in the city that have seen some scuffles with law enforcement, the Trump administration announced the mobilization of the 700 Marines as well as an "additional" 2,000 National Guard. A senior administration official told AFP that "active-duty US Marines from Camp Pendleton will be deployed to Los Angeles to help protect federal agents and buildings." The official first gave a figure of 500 Marines, but later updated the number to 700.
Deploying active duty military personnel like US Marines into a community of civilians within the United States is a highly unusual measure. The US military separately confirmed the deployment of "approximately 700 Marines" from an infantry battalion following the unrest. They would "seamlessly integrate" with National Guard forces that Trump deployed to Los Angeles on Saturday without the consent of California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.
The deployment was meant to ensure there were "adequate numbers of forces," it added. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell then announced the mobilization of "an additional 2,000 California National Guard to be called into federal service to support ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) & to enable federal law-enforcement officers to safely conduct their duties." It was not immediately clear if the "additional" 2,000 guardsmen were on top of the 2,000 that had already been mobilized, or only the 300 that were already in the streets of Los Angeles.
California Governor Newsom denounced the move as "insane." "The U.S. Marines have served honorably in multiple wars in defense of democracy," the Democrat declared on X. "They should not be deployed on American soil, facing their own citizens, to fulfill the insane fantasy of a dictatorial president." This was "un-American."
Following the Pentagon's announcement, Newsom immediately followed up. He accused Trump of sowing "chaos" in Los Angeles. "Trump is trying to provoke chaos by sending 4,000 troops onto American soil," the governor wrote on X. Newsom had previously announced a lawsuit against Trump for the uncoordinated deployment of the National Guard.
Shortly before the drastic step, Trump had blamed "professional agitators and insurrectionists" for clashes on the sidelines of demonstrations on Monday and threatened even tougher action. "The people causing these problems are professional agitators and insurrectionists," Trump told reporters at the White House. "They're bad people, they should be in jail."
Trump stated online that protesters had spit in front of soldiers. If they continued this way, "I promise you they will be hit harder than ever before. This kind of disrespect will not be tolerated." The US President later said that he "doesn't want a civil war." But "a civil war would happen if we leave it to people like him," he said, referring to Governor Newsom. He also supported the suggestion of his border patrol commissioner, Tom Homan, to have Newsom arrested.
Trump also persisted in his criticism of the Democrat, saying Newsom had failed to do his job in curbing the clashes in Los Angeles. "Look, I like Gavin Newsom, he's a nice guy, but he's profoundly incompetent, everyone knows that," Trump said. A small business owner whose property was vandalized with graffiti supported the US government's crackdown. "I think this is necessary to stop the vandalism," she told AFP without providing her name. Everyone has "the right to protest, but please do it properly," she said. "You shouldn't vandalize or harm your own city because you're hurting people who are trying to earn a living."
Other residents, however, expressed their horror. "They're supposed to protect us, but instead they're being sent to attack us," said 47-year-old Kelly Diemer, referring to the involvement of the US military. "This is no longer a democracy." The protests in Los Angeles on Friday were triggered by the increased crackdown on migrants by the immigration authorities (ICE). They are directed against Trump's rigid migration policy, which aims at the mass deportation of immigrants.
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