Hundreds of American marines arrived on Tuesday in the Los Angeles area under the orders of President Donald Trump, who also activated 4,000 National Guard soldiers to quell the protests in the city despite the objections of the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, that the deployments have political motivations.
The city has lived five days of public protests since the Trump administration launched a series of migratory raids on Friday. State officials said that Trump’s response was an exaggerated reaction to mostly peaceful demonstrations.
Around 700 Marines were in a preparation zone in the Seal Beach area, about 50 kilometers south of Los Angeles, hoping to be deployed in specific places, said an American official.
The Marines have no authority to make arrests and will protect the property and federal staff, according to military officers. On Tuesday there were approximately 2,100 National Guard troops in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, and there is expected, according to the officer.
California sued Trump and the Department of Defense on Monday, seeking to block the deployment of federal troops. Subsequently, on Tuesday, he requested immediate failure on the specific issue of his participation in the application of the law. The judge set a hearing on this matter for Thursday.
California Attorney General, Rob Bonta, told Reuters that the State was concerned with allowing federal troops to protect the staff and said there was a risk that this could violate a 1878 law that generally prohibits the US military, including the National Guard, participating in the application of the civil law.
“I understand the federal property part: defending and protecting federal buildings,” said Bonta. “But protecting staff probably means accompanying ICE agents to communities and neighborhoods, and protecting functions could mean protecting the ICE function of enforcing the immigration law.”
Lee: California answers Trump accusations … with a Star Wars video
The United States Immigration and Customs Control Service published photos on X of the National Guard troops accompanying ICE officers in an immigration raid.
Marines receive conflict training worldwide, from the Middle East to Africa, and also participate in rapid deployments in emergency cases, such as threats to US embassies. Some units also learn disturbance and crowd control techniques.
The mayor says: Stop the raids
The mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, emphasized a press conference that the riots have limited themselves to a few blocks from the center and that was considering a curfew in the center of Los Angeles to curb violence in the area, including shop looting.
He made a distinction between the majority of protesters who protested peacefully in support of immigrants and a lower number of agitators who blamed violence and looting.
He said he planned Trump on Tuesday.
“I want to tell you to stop the raids,” he said. “I want to tell him that this is a city of immigrants.”
Trump has justified his decision to deploy troops describing protests as a violent occupation, a characterization that Newsom and Bass have said that it is extremely exaggerated.
Speaking to journalists in the Oval office, the president said that Los Angeles would be “burning right now” if it were not for the deployments, and that the guard troops would remain until there was no danger.
Trump left open the possibility of invoking the centennial insurrection law, which would allow the military to participate directly in the application of civil law.
The protests since Friday have been mostly peaceful, but there have been isolated clashes. Some protesters have launched stones at the agents, blocked a road and burned vehicles. Police have responded with “less lethal” ammunition, such as pepper bullets, stunned grenades and tear gas.
Lee: Trump states that anyone who protests against his birthday parade will be ‘repressed with great force’
The Los Angeles Police Department said it arrested more than 100 people on Monday, raising the regional total from Saturday to more than 180.
On Tuesday, police with shields and helmets formed a row near the protesters who waved banks with slogans such as “when injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.”
The protests have concentrated in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center, where numerous migrants are held. The Trump government has promised to intensify migratory raids as a response.
Protests have occurred in other cities, including Chicago, where on Tuesday about 100 protesters marched through the city center, blocking traffic and carrying posters asking for the abolition of ICE.
Christina Berger, 39, said it was a heartbreaking to listen about children who are afraid of being separated from their families due to immigration rags and added: “I just want to give some hope to my friends and neighbors.”
Cleaning
The business owners of the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles, where some of the most intense clashes between the police and the protesters on Monday night occurred, were washing graffiti from the stores of the stores and sweeping garbage on Tuesday.
All the buildings of the main streets of Little Tokyo were attacked with graffiti, with the exception of the public defender’s office that remained intact.
Lee: California asks Judge to quickly block Trump’s troops in Los Angeles
Frank Chávez, 53, manager of an office building in the neighborhood, was sweeping glass fragments from an entrance door that had been destroyed after midnight by a young masked young man who wielded a skateboard, according to a security video that Chavez showed a reuters reporter.
“I agree with what the protesters defend: they are defending the Latin community,” said Chavez. “But there are some who commit vandalism and violent acts, and that must be stopped.”
Chávez and other business owners said they did not support immigration raids and felt that Trump’s response was only fanning the flames.
With Reuters information
Inspy, discover and share. Follow us and find what you are looking for on our Instagram!
