US President Donald Trump ordered active-duty US Marines and 2,000 more National Guard troops into Los Angeles on Monday, vowing those protesting immigration arrests would be “hit harder” than ever.
Trump’s extraordinary mobilization of 700 full-time professional military personnel — and thousands of National Guard troops — came on the fourth day of street protests triggered by dozens of immigration arrests in a city with huge foreign-born and Latino populations.
California Governor Gavin Newsom slammed the move, posting on social media that US Marines “shouldn’t be deployed on American soil facing their own countrymen to fulfill the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial President. This is un-American.”
Photo: AFP
The deployment came after demonstrators took over streets in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, torching cars and looting stores in scenes that saw law enforcement responding with tear gas and rubber bullets.
Monday’s demonstrations unfolded largely peacefully after weekend protests triggered by dozens of arrests of people authorities said were illegal migrants and gang members.
“Pigs go home,” demonstrators shouted at National Guard troops outside a federal detention center. Others banged on the sides of unmarked vehicles as they passed through police containment lines.
One small business owner whose property was graffitied was supportive of the strong-arm tactics.
“I think it’s needed to stop the vandalism,” she said, declining to give her name.
Others were horrified.
“They’re meant to be protecting us, but instead, they’re like being sent to attack us,” Kelly Diemer, 47, said. “This is not a democracy anymore.”
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