Trump Administration Sends Marines To Site Of Anti-ICE Protests

Legal Issues

from the here-we-fucking-go dept

How’s your Monday going? Well, buckle up. The day ain’t over yet.

No sooner had California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the state would be suing Trump over his illegal deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles to do whatever it is they’re supposed to do when deployed illegally than the Defense Department turned Pete Hegeth’s tweeted threat into reality.

The Trump administration is mobilizing 700 Marines based out of Twentynine Palms, Calif., for Los Angeles, the scene of protests against immigration enforcement operations, a defense official confirmed with NPR before it was publicly announced.

U.S. Northern Command said in a statement on Monday that the infantry battalion had been put on “alert status” over the weekend and will be working with the National Guard “who are protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area.”

If the National Guard deployment was mostly illegal, this one appears to be completely illegal. The statement from the military doesn’t make anything any clearer. It does, however, suggest the ongoing clusterfuck that is the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops will only get more clustered/fucked.

U.S. Northern Command has activated the Marine infantry battalion that was placed in an alert status over the weekend. Approximately 700 Marines with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division will seamlessly integrate with the Title 10 forces under Task Force 51 who are protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area. 

The activation of the Marines is intended to provide Task Force 51 with adequate numbers of forces to provide continuous coverage of the area in support of the lead federal agency. 

Task Force 51 refers to the 2,000 National Guard troops that are already experiencing the joy of being used as pawns in Trump’s game of 4-D Candyland. This is how it’s going for the first show of force illegally deployed by the administration:

Now another 700 Marines are being added to this bed-less, toilet-less mess. And it’s all being done with the same attention of detail we’ve grown accustomed to seeing from this administration: do whatever you want and when it all falls apart, start looking for scapegoats.

Los Angeles law enforcement honestly has no idea how it’s supposed to handle this influx of guys with guns, much less hearing anything at all from the federal government in terms of coordinating with federal officers and military members.

If you can’t read/see the embed, this is the statement issued by LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell:

“The LAPD has not received any formal notification that the Marines will be arriving in Los Angeles. However, the possible arrival of federal military forces in Los Angeles—absent clear coordination—presents a significant logistical and operational challenge for those of us charged with safeguarding this city. The Los Angeles Police Department, alongside our mutual aid partners, have decades of experience managing large-scale public demonstrations, and we remain confident in our ability to do so professionally and effectively. That said, our top priority is the safety of both the public and the officers on the ground. We are urging open and continuous lines of communication between all agencies to prevent confusion, avoid escalation, and ensure a coordinated, lawful, and orderly response during this critical time.”

If the true intent of these troop deployments was to protect federal property from violent acts and/or ease logistical demands placed on local law enforcement currently handling protests, it’s been an abject failure. But that can’t possibly be the real intent of the administration’s actions. It’s picking a fight, both with the state of California, as well as with federal law itself, which explicitly forbids what’s being done here. And it’s hoping an additional show of force will provoke a response from protesters it can then use to justify each progressive step towards martial law.

Filed Under: 1st amendment, immigration, marines, martial law, mass deportations, military, national guard, protests