The National Guard descended on Los Angeles to Sunday after President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of 2,000 troops, after a weekend of intense protests and confrontations with law enforcement as part of a growing backlash in the state against operations carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
According to a statement from the White House, the California National Guard was activated in response to the protests that broke out in Los Angeles on Friday night. Demonstrations have erupted across multiple parts of L.A. County, were on several occasions the protests have turned violent.
Earlier in the day, California Governor Gavin Newsom sharply criticized the federal move, saying Washington was attempting to “seize control” of the state’s National Guard, describing the action as “deliberately provocative” and warned it would only heighten tensions on the ground. Border czar Tom Homan defended the president’s decision to deploy the troops and warned that Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass could be arrested if they impede operation efforts.
Trump posted on Truth Social to describe the situation in Los Angeles as “two days filled with violence, confrontations, and disorder … These Radical Left protests, fueled by agitators and, in some cases, paid provocateurs, will not be allowed to continue.”
California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom formally requested on Sunday that the Trump administration rescind the deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles County, calling the decision “unlawful … I have formally requested the Trump Administration rescind their unlawful deployment of troops in Los Angeles county and return them to my command ..We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved. This is a serious breach of state sovereignty — inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they’re actually needed.”
Editorial credit: ROBERT ENRIQUEZ / Shutterstock.com
