Approximately 200 Marines arrived in Los Angeles to begin an assignment to protect the Federal Wilshire building on Friday, according to an army general, marking a rare occasion when the military forces will be deployed on US soil.
President Trump federalized last weekend and deployed more than 2,000 soldiers from the National Guard and 700 Marines to Los Angeles after the protests burst into the light of immigration application operations through the city and nearby areas. The move to send military has been described as “authoritarian” by the governor of California Gavin Newsom, while Trump said Friday morning that the “city would be burning at this time” had not activated the troops.
Newsom has challenged the decision in a lawsuit. A federal judge put on the side of Newsom and blocked Mr. Trump to send troops on Thursday night, but A Court of Appeals He temporarily stopped the order later that night. The United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit scheduled another hearing on the June 17 case. The troops can remain in Los Angeles at least until that date.
Duration a press conference on Friday morning, May. Gene. Scott M. Sherman said the Marines arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday night. They found their task in Westwood around noon on Friday.
The mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, denounced the presence of the army and the incursions on ice in the city.
“We are here today, the raids have caused fear and panic,” said a press conference on Friday night. “We are not going to solve anything chasing people in Car Washes, intimidating families in their schools or sending troops to an American city.”
The Marines temporarily arrested someone on Friday outside the Federal Building of Wilshire, a spokesman for the North Command of the United States.
“Title 10 forces can temporarily stop an individual in specific circumstances,” said the spokesman. “As one of the photos shows, any temporary detention ends immediately when individuals can safely transfer to the custody of the appropriate civil law personnel.”
The incident was captured by news photographers. According to Reuters, the arrested man identified himself as Marcos Leao, 27, an immigrant veteran and the US army. Leao told the journalists that he was arrested while heading to the office of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Leao told journalists that the Marines confused him with a protester, but possible.
“They treated me very righteous,” said Leao, from Reuters, adding that it was tolerated, “he understands, this is a stressful situation for all, and we all have a job.”
Sherman said that the only mission of the marines deployed is to protect federal property and personnel, such as the Federal Building. The Marines will be armed with weapons and use crowd control equipment such as a riot shield, a cane and gas masks.
“I would like to emphasize that soldiers will not participate in the activities of application of the law,” said Sherman. “Rather, they will focus on protecting the federal personnel for the application of the law.”
Sherman confirmed that the National Guard Soldiers Those who have been deployed since Sunday have not participated in the activity of application of the law. There are no wounded troops since he arrived at Los Angeles
“They have observed the federal police trial staff, as they were their protection,” said Sherman. “They don’t have to stop anyone right now.”
It is not yet clear what tasks will receive the other 500 Marines deployed in the Sherman, he said he could not speculate on future operations, but recent training has focused on the defense of federal property.
“That is the mission we have really focused on them to do,” he said. “They have already started with the Wilshire [Federal] Building today, and we will progress from there. ”
Until Friday morning, there were 56,300 people in ice detention centers throughout the country, an agency record, according to the internal government data forced
On Thursday and Wednesday, ICE registered 1,400 and 1,600 immigration trials throughout the country, respectively, indicate statistics.
The ICE trial increased by more than 100% from the first 100 days of President Trump in office, but they work well below the daily trial rate required by the White House.