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More than a month after President Trump made the fiercely and controversial decision to send around 700 US Marines to Los Angeles, those troops will begin to withdraw from the city, Pentagon officials said Monday.
The decision comes a week after the Pentagon announced that half of the approximately 4,000 National Guard soldiers deployed in the Los Angeles area will be released from duties. Marines and the National Guard were sent to the city in early June amid a fierce protest against federal immigrant raids and attacks, and the Trump administration vowed to crack down on “mobs, looters and thugs.”
The president claimed he “saved Los Angeles,” but local and state officials lashed out at the extraordinary deployment of the troops into the streets of American cities.
Advocates and California politicians also argued that the forced sight was inflammatory and could potentially put both the military and the protesters at risk.
These days, the military has been fighting mostly boring, without doing it.
The volatile protests that erupted in downtown Los Angeles and other parts of the area in mid-June have since collapsed. The military is tasked with protecting federal buildings, with some accompanying immigration agents on tense enforcement measures.
On behalf of Defense Secretary Pete Hegses, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell appeared to admit the quietness in a statement Monday.
“As stability returned to Los Angeles, the secretary directed the redeployment of the 700 Marines. “Their quick response, unwavering discipline and unmistakable presence helped them restore order and support the rule of law. I am deeply grateful for their service and the strength and professionalism they have brought to this mission.”
News of the Marine Corps withdrawal, first reported by the New York Times, broke a few minutes after Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass finished her Monday morning release with a group of veterans, where she denounced the “inappropriate” presence of the military on LA Street.
“This is another victory for Los Angeles. As I said this morning, our troops are not to protect two office buildings, but to get them to do what they’ve joined,” Bass said in response to the withdrawal.
About 2,000 National Guard personnel remain in the area, according to the US Northern Command.
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