The administration of US President Donald Trump will deploy 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles due to the protests that were sparked by Trump's executive order that banned citizens of 12 countries from entering the country starting June 9, Reuters reported.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that the Pentagon is ready to mobilize active troops "if the violence continues" in Los Angeles and added that Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton were "on high alert".
On June 7, federal law enforcement agents confronted protesters in the Paramount neighborhood of southeast Los Angeles, where some demonstrators waved Mexican flags. A second protest in downtown Los Angeles that evening drew about 60 people.
In a statement, the White House said Trump had signed a presidential memorandum to deploy National Guard troops to "address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester," the White House said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom called the decision "deliberately inflammatory". He posted on X that Trump is deploying the National Guard "not because there is a law enforcement shortage, but because they want a spectacle," calling for a peaceful resolution to the situation. Newsom also called it "insane behavior." Hegseth to "threaten to deploy active duty Marines on American soil against our own citizens".
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that if Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass can't do their jobs, "then the federal government will step in and solve the problem, the hooligans and the looters, the way it needs to be solved".
Vice President J.D. Vance wrote on his X social network that "rioters carrying foreign flags are attacking immigration officers while half of America's political leadership has decided that border control is evil".
The Los Angeles Police Department posted on X that "several people were arrested for failing to disperse after multiple warnings". Police did not provide further details.
The protests began on the evening of June 6 after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted raids in the city and arrested at least 44 people for alleged immigration violations. The Department of Homeland Security said about "1,000 rioters" gathered at the protest.