Hundreds of Marines are expected to stand on Los Angeles security guards following another night of uproar in downtown Los Angeles and another night when arrests and a few businesses were robbed.
The deployment of 700 active US Marines will occur, despite California officials claiming that federal aid is not needed and that they are in fact growing tensions between authorities and protesters. L.A. Police Chief Jim McDonnell said the development poses a “significant” challenge to law enforcement efforts to protect the city.
McDonnell said Monday afternoon that his department had not received official notice that the Marines would arrive in LA.
“The possibility of the arrival of federal forces in Los Angeles – no clear adjustments – presents important logistics and operational challenges for us, who are tasked with protecting the city,” he said. “The Los Angeles Police Department has decades of experience managing public demonstrations along with mutual aid partners, and is confident in its ability to do so effectively and professionally.”
LA Mayor Karen Bass also said, “We didn’t need the National Guard, why on Earth? [Marines] Are you planning to do it? ”
As immigrant arrests continue across Southern California, there have been severe but isolated clashes between protesters and law enforcement for several days.
Monday’s protests have largely settled down more than Sunday’s brawl, leaving marks of bubble bullets in the city centre, buildings destroyed, Waymo burning, and many protesters were injured from munitions.
Local officials are urging protesters to maintain peace.
Rep. Mark Gonzalez, representing Downtown, said the violence and destruction of Little Tokio and some Downtown was “completely unacceptable.”
“Tagging historical landmarks, firing fireworks at officers and terrorizing residents is not a protest. It’s destruction,” he said. “If our neighbors are scared and you’re here while the storefront is on board, if you’re chasing influence while our neighbors are scared, you’re not helping, you’re doing harm. You’re going straight into Trump’s hands and undermining the very movement you claim to support.”
The Marines will join around 1,700 California State Guard soldiers in Los Angeles to protect federal agents and buildings. On Monday evening, I saw a military convoy travelling from Twentinin’s palm towards Los Angeles.
As midnight approached downtown, officers used non-fatal ammunition and tear gas as they collided with dozens of people remaining in downtown Los Angeles. Earlier that day, a crowd of hundreds gathered in front of a federal building.
Officers moved in late afternoon to push the crowd away from the building, which was the focus of Sunday’s protest, steadily pushing them into Little Tokio, and the crowd faded with each push.
Dozens of protesters remained scattered around small Tokyo around 10pm, with officers shooting flash bangs and non-fatal ammunition, while protesters tried to set a barrier with recycle bins.
At least one car window was shattered and shrapnel of glass was shot by the crowd.
In Orange County, where protesters gathered in front of a federal building in downtown Santa Ana, police used tear gas, pepper balls and rubber bullets to clean up the crowd following reports of protesters throwing things at police.
“What began as a legitimate assembly around Civic Center Plaza took risks to public safety, property and the well-being of our community, escalating to objects thrown at officers and other members,” Santa Ana Police said in a statement on the X.
The immigration enforcement agency was found Monday at the Whittier court and library, Huntington Park and the Home Depot for businesses and businesses in Santa Ana and Fountain Valley, according to officials and media reports.
In an interview with Jesse Watters on Fox News on Monday, Trump’s top border policy advisor Tom Homan said in Los Angeles, immigration and customs enforcement raids will continue due to so-called “sanctuary cities” policies that limit the way local law enforcement works with federal immigration agents.
“The ice hasn’t left,” Homan said. The agency added that over 100 teams were working in LA on Monday.
“And based on what LA is doing now, we’ll continue to flood the zone. We’re going to be there tonight, we’re going to be there tomorrow, we’re going to be there every day for the next four years, arresting public safety threats and illegal aliens.
Staff writers Seema Mehta and Laura J. Nelson contributed to this report
Source link
