Marines deployed in LA ahead of possible ‘unprecedented’ anti-Trump protests
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Protests on June 13 appeared to be scattered and relatively muted.
PHOTO: AFP
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LOS ANGELES - Armed Marines arrived on the streets of Los Angeles on June 13, part of a large deployment of troops ordered by Mr Donald Trump that has raised the stakes between the US President and opponents criticising him of growing authoritarianism.
Men in fatigues and carrying semiautomatic rifles were seen around a federal building, where passersby questioned why they were in an area 18km from the protests against immigration raids.
“Taxpayer dollars could be used for other things,” RonNell Weaver told AFP. “Is this really necessary?“
AFP witnessed Marines temporarily detaining one man at the federal building before they handed him over to law enforcement.
The US military would not say why he was detained, despite multiple requests, but the incident appeared to be a minor – albeit extremely rare – example of federal troops detaining a US civilian.
Seven hundred Marines – normally used as crack troops in foreign conflicts – along with 4,000 National Guard soldiers are tasked with protecting federal buildings, while local police handle protests over Mr Trump’s sweeps for undocumented migrants.
An intense legal battle is under way over Mr Trump’s authority to deploy troops on US soil as the country braces itself for widespread protests on June 14, when the Republican will be overseeing a rare large-scale military parade in Washington.
The parade celebrates the 250th anniversary of the US Army but also coincides with Mr Trump’s 79th birthday, and will be the first time tanks and other heavy weaponry have rolled through the capital city in three decades.
In response, a “No Kings” movement has sprung up promising to stage protests in more than 2,000 places across the country, including a large demonstration expected in Los Angeles, which organisers say will feature a “20-foot-tall balloon of Trump wearing a diaper”.
“Unprecedented” crowds could attend, Los Angeles police chief Jim McDonnell told reporters on June 13.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, whose deputies are part of a large law enforcement response in the enormous city, urged protesters to behave properly.
“It’s a good cause, but we do not want violent agitators out there destroying property or committing acts of violence,” he said.
Mayor Karen Bass said demonstrations are expected to be “even larger because of what has happened in our city.”
“We do call on people over the weekend to demonstrate peacefully, to exercise your first amendment right, to not play into the hands where it could be used as a pretext to roll out troops in our city,” she said in a news conference.
California v Trump
In a show of political force, Mr Trump overrode the objections of Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom to deploy California’s National Guard.
The President has repeatedly exaggerated the scale of violence, claiming that without troops, Los Angeles would be “burning to the ground right now”.
On June 12, District Judge Charles Breyer ruled that Mr Trump’s actions were “illegal” and ordered that he return control of the guard to Mr Newsom. Judge Breyer said the LA unrest fell “far short” of the “rebellion” Mr Trump had described.
However, a higher court quickly paused the order pending an appeal hearing with the Trump administration on June 17.
The Department of Justice slammed Judge Breyer’s ruling as “an extraordinary intrusion on the President’s constitutional authority as commander-in-chief”.
The dispute mirrors multiple other tussles over Mr Trump’s attempts to expand the limits of presidential power – but is the first to involve troops.
Hamlet performance amid protests
Many in Los Angeles are angry about immigration raids carried out as part of Mr Trump’s ambition to deport vast numbers of undocumented migrants from the country.
About 100 mostly good-natured protesters gathered on the evening of June 13 outside the federal detention centre in Los Angeles that has been at the heart of the rallies, ahead of a nightly curfew placed on the downtown area by the mayor.
In a sign of how contained the demonstrations have been, however, those attending a performance of Hamlet – Shakespeare’s play about a mad prince – and other shows at nearby venues were exempt from the curfew.
Outrage at Mr Trump’s raids and the use of masked, armed immigration agents backed by uniformed soldiers have also sparked protests in other cities
Tensions hiked further on June 12 when California Senator Alex Padilla, a Democrat, was handcuffed and forcibly removed from a news conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. AFP
