The US President ordered the 700 soldiers of the US-Marines elite unit to Los Angeles to protect the city “given the increasing threats against federal civil servants and federal buildings”, said a government official of the AFP news agency.
The sending of military members such as the Marines into a US inner city is extremely unusual. The US military expert Rachel Vanlandingham spoke of an “incredibly rare” arrangement of a US president in an interview with AFP. These soldiers are neither trained for maintaining law and order, nor are used to working together “with local security forces”, which could lead to problems.
Trump had already ordered the posting of 2000 soldiers from the National Guard to Los Angeles on Saturday against the express will of Newsom and the city administration and followed up on Monday with the sending of additional 2000 national guards. According to Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, the National Guard should support the immigration authority “ICE and enable federal police officers to carry out their tasks safely”. The National Guard is a military reserve unit and part of the US armed forces.
The California authorities had repeatedly pointed out that the majority of the demonstrators protested peacefully and that the local security forces were quite able to provide order. The use of active members of the military was critically seen by residents of the city: “They should protect us, but instead they are sent to attack us,” said 47-year-old Kelly Diemer. “This is no longer a democracy.”
The marine fantry and national guards were posted after Demonstrating had set up cars on Sunday in the city center and looted business. The trigger for the protests were raids in which masked and armed officials had dragged and imprisoned migrants in cars.
In the past there have been 56 arrests in Los Angeles, and five police officers were also slightly injured. There were also protests in San Francisco, in the course of which 60 people were arrested. There were also custody in New York and in the Texas capital Austin Austin Austin.
Governor Newsom denounced Trump’s procedure in clear words. “The US marine fans honestly served to defend democracy in several wars,” said the Democrat in the online service X. “They should not be used on American soil, where they face their own compatriots to fulfill the mentally disturbed imagination of a dictatorial president.” He announced that Trump sued.
The right -wing populist had won the election in November after he had made a mood against migrants and announced in the election campaign with aggressive and openly racist slogans to initiate a mass deportation of immigrants without papers after taking office. Since his comeback in the White House in January, the US authorities have intensified nationwide against migrants.
