Los Angeles: Another 2,000 National Guard troops along with 700 Marines are headed to Los Angeles on orders from President Donald Trump, escalating a military presence local officials and Gov. Gavin Newsom don’t want and the police chief says creates logistical challenges for safely handling protests.
Trump doubled the number of Guard troops being deployed soon after the first wave of 2,000 began arriving Sunday, amid
the most violent outbreaks during four days of protests driven by anger over the president’s stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws that critics say are breaking apart migrant families.
Monday’s demonstrations were far less raucous, with thousands peacefully attending a rally at City Hall and hundreds protesting outside a federal complex that includes a detention centre where some immigrants are being held following workplace raids across the city.
The protests in Los Angeles, a city of 4 million people, have largely been centred in several blocks of downtown. At daybreak Tuesday, guard troops were stationed outside the detention centre but there was no sign of the Marines.
Trump has described Los Angeles in dire terms that Mayor Karen Bass and Newsom say are nowhere close to the truth.
They say he is putting public safety at risk by adding military personnel even though police say they don’t need
the help.