[LOS ANGELES] US President Donald Trump will send the National Guard to restore order in Los Angeles in response to growing unrest over a wave of immigration raids.
At least 2,000 National Guard troops will be deployed “for 60 days or at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense,” the White House said in a statement late on Saturday (Jun 7). Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defence, said on X that Marines will also be mobilised “if violence continues.”
The deployment plans come as demonstrations intensified for a second day after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions across the city. ICE said it arrested 2,000 undocumented people a day this week nationwide, including 118 individuals in the Los Angeles area.
Authorities are mobilising troops to “address violence and destruction occurring near raid locations where demonstrators are gathering,” border czar Tom Homan said in an interview with Fox News’ The Big Weekend Show.
More than 1,000 protesters surrounded a federal building in downtown LA on Friday, and additional demonstrations broke out on Saturday in Paramount, just south of the city. Local media reported tear gas and flash-bang grenades deployed to disperse the crowds.
The Department of Homeland Security earlier on Saturday accused Democratic leaders in California, including California Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass, of contributing to violence.
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“The violent targeting of law enforcement in Los Angeles by lawless rioters is despicable and Mayor Bass and governor Newsom must call for it to end,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
On Sunday, Trump posted on Truth Social that the National Guard did a “great job” while repeating his administration’s criticisms of Newsom and Bass. He also announced that “from now on, MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be worn at protests,” though it’s unclear if the federal government has the authority to make such a decree.
Newsom said the federal government’s plan to take control of the state National Guard and deploy troops was “purposefully inflammatory” and likely to escalate tensions.
The governor said in a post on X that there is no shortage of law enforcement in Los Angeles and the federal government was deploying the troops “because they want a spectacle.”
“Don’t give them one,” he said. “Never use violence. Speak out peacefully.”
The governor said in a separate statement that California would boost the number of highway patrol officers to Los Angeles to “keep the peace.”
Bass said the federal government’s “tactics sow terror in our communities.”
Crackdown
The LA Police Department said that it wasn’t participating in the federal immigration enforcement crackdown.
“The LAPD is not involved in civil immigration enforcement,” Police chief Jim McDonnell wrote on social media. “While the LAPD will continue to have a visible presence in all our communities to ensure public safety, we will not assist or participate in any sort of mass deportations nor will the LAPD try to determine an individual’s immigration status.”
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem warned the protesters that any violence against officers will be prosecuted. “You will not stop us or slow us down,” she said in an X post. Multiple arrests have been made, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in an X post.
ICE has pledged to continue ramping up arrests as authorities carry out Trump’s promise to oversee the largest deportation effort in US history. The president has also threatened to cut off federal funding to California after disputes over immigration, transgender issues and allegations of antisemitism on college campuses.
Small Business Administration chief Kelly Loeffler announced on Saturday that her agency would begin relocating its regional office out of LA, citing what she described as the city’s failure to cooperate with ICE.
“If a city won’t protect its people, we won’t stay,” Loeffler wrote on X. BLOOMBERG
