Thread: Heavy military presence seen in downtown Los Angeles after days of immigration protes

A heavy military presence was seen in downtown Los Angeles early Sunday morning after unrest sparked by ICE raids in the L.A. area and ahead of what is expected to be a third day of protests.


President Donald Trump ordered thousands of National Guard troops to be deployed Saturday night after a raid in Paramount earlier in the day that set off a chain of destructive demonstrations. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, however, said just after midnight Sunday that the National Guard had not been deployed in the city.


Military personnel began arriving at the Federal Building in downtown around 4 a.m. Sunday to ensure that federal agents are protected. More have been deployed to the Hall of Justice, next to City Hall.


“It’s one thing to see a heavy law enforcement presence, but it’s a whole other situation when we have [this many] military personnel in downtown L.A.,” KTLA 5’s Jennifer McGraw said.


A rally has been planned for 2 p.m., but impromptu demonstrations are expected to pop up on Sunday morning.

Protests began on Friday after federal agents conducted raids in DTLA and the Westlake neighborhood, which resulted in more than 40 people being detained, including a local labor union president. The tension continued the next day when ICE officials were seen in Paramount, and large crowds quickly gathered there and in neighboring Compton, where demonstrators set a car on fire.


The unrest spread to downtown by Saturday evening, where protesters clashed with ICE agents outside the Federal Detention Center, where some detainees are believed to be held.


Immigrant advocates, legal representatives and U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (CA-34) attempted to enter the facility to see those who had been detained during raids but said they were denied entry multiple times.

The situation has escalated tensions between local, state and federal leaders; President Trump has repeatedly called out L.A. Mayor Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom for their handling of the protests.


Newsom called Trump’s move to deploy the National Guard “purposefully inflammatory” and less than ten minutes later, Trump put out a social media post that read: “If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can’t do their jobs, which everyone knows they can’t, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!”

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Thousands of protesters flooded streets and 101 freeway, causing widespread road closures

Demonstrators flooded the streets, including blocking lanes on freeways, near an initial protest site at the Metropolitan Detention Center after the assembly was declared “unlawful” by the Los Angeles Police Department.


Aerial footage showed masses of people blocking lanes in both directions on the 101 freeway Sunday afternoon, causing a significant traffic disruption where the 101 and 110 freeways converge, marking the third day of protests following ICE raids across the state.


Entrances to the 101 began reopening approximately 90 minutes after the full freeway closure, where law enforcement worked to push the protesters off the freeway up the on-ramp. Several other road closures persist.


In a Sunday evening news conference, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said hundreds of demonstrators managed to reach the freeway, with thousands of others occupying nearby streets.


Demonstrations on the 101 and 110 freeways and several other areas were also declared an unlawful assembly by the LAPD, and many protesters were arrested.


In videos from the scene, law enforcement could be seen walking on the streets of the freeway, directing traffic caught in the protest.

Live updates: Trump deploys National Guard to LA in response to immigration clashes | CNN Politics

Trump Orders in Marines in Dramatic Escalation of L.A. Protests

Donald Trump is sending hundreds of U.S. Marines to assist in Los Angeles in response to the ongoing protests.


The active-duty Marines from Camp Pendleton in Southern California will be deployed to help protect federal agents and buildings, a senior Trump administration official told the Daily Beast.


The Marines’ mobilization comes after U.S. Northern Command had said they were prepared to mobilize Marines on Sunday as needed.


The move is a dramatic escalation after the president also deployed the National Guard over the objection of California Governor Gavin Newsom and local officials.


“In light of increased threats against federal officers and federal buildings, 500 active-duty U.S. Marines from Camp Pendleton will be deployed to Los Angeles to help protect federal agents and buildings,” the official told the Daily Beast.


The U.S. Northern Command announced soon after that approximately 700 Marines with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division would be integrated with the National Guard soldiers deployed in the Los Angeles area.

Trump on Monday defended deploying some 2,000 National Guard troops to California in response to immigration protests.


The president argued that he no longer needed a request from the governor because Newsom is “incompetent.”


“Look at the job he’s doing in California. He’s destroying one of our great states,” Trump said in response to a reporter’s question during a roundtable event.


Earlier in the day, the president also suggested he would back Newsom being arrested, responding to a question from a reporter outside the White House “I would.”

Newsom on Monday slammed the president for deploying the National Guard.


“This is exactly what Donald Trump wanted,” he wrote in a post on X. “He flamed the fires and illegally acted to federalize the National Guard.”


The California governor announced the state would sue the president.


“This is a manufactured crisis. He is creating fear and terror to take over a state militia and violate the U.S. Constitution,” Newsom wrote in another post.


He wrote that the president signaling support for his arrest was an “unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.”

While the administration confirmed Marines would be mobilized Monday afternoon, the president appeared to play down their deployment.


“We’ll see what happens,” Trump said when asked about deploying Marines. “I think we have it very well under control. I think it would have been a very bad situation. It was heading in the wrong direction. It’s now heading in the right direction.”

Protests have continued in Los Angeles since Friday when law enforcement shot “less-lethal” rounds at protesters who gathered in response to against federal immigration raids.


Nearly 60 people were arrested in Los Angeles over the weekend, police said. Among those arrested were a person accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at an officer. Another person was accused of ramming a motorcycle into a line of officers, injuring one.

Trump Orders in Marines in Dramatic Escalation of L.A. Protests

Poor, Mr. Trump. Tough decisions.

Originally Posted by 39TG

Poor, Mr. Trump. Tough decisions.

Stupid decisions. It doesn't help him, it will eventually bring him down, it is only a matter of time.

^ Trump will be getting the federal government sued to the nth degree since he can’t be held personally responsible. He’s not saving the government a damn cent.

So he's stoking things up to get a response, then he can keep escalating everywhere and sending in troops and eventually declare martial law, including suspending elections.

Worst case scenario (I hope).

The chief of the LAPD appeared a little uncertain when asked about the role of the marines. Unsurprisingly, it isn't something that usually happens and it seems like no one has told him yet.

What are the marines supposed to do? Do they get any special powers of arrest? What happens if a crowd pushes a marine, does he shoot them? This doesn't look like the marines are facing their finest hours.

Gavin Newsom on Trump.

Newsom calls out Trump for ‘theatrics’ in Los Angeles | CNN

Originally Posted by Shutree

What are the marines supposed to do?

Kill.

And of course the orange turd has threatened violence against anyone who protests the $45 million parade he's organised for himself.

Mr. Trump didn't hide who he was. Americans knew Mr. Trump well and they voted for his narcissistic authoritarian approach to government. He's an attractive character to many Americans.

Americans are getting what they voted for.

How long is the minimum stay for a US President? Can you do the same as the Brits did to Truss? Trump needs to go, and go quickly and without too much fuss. Perhaps a visit to Dallas, taking a familiar route, would be appropriate.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

And of course the orange turd has threatened violence against anyone who protests the $45 million parade he's organised for himself.

Add that to the $134 million bill the taxpayers are getting for sending National Guard/Marines to stand around LA, with their thumbs up their asses.

The very definition of waste, fraud, and abuse.

fraud

were the people that ICE were sent to arrest in the country legally or illegally?

Originally Posted by 39TG

He's an attractive character to many Americans.

The Americans with fewer IQ points, than teeth.

We are six months into this fiasco, and his numbers continue to tumble.

Donald Trump's Approval Rating Is Slipping, Polls Show - Newsweek

Originally Posted by taxexile

were the people that ICE were sent to arrest in the country legally or illegally?

ICE does not always know the immigration status of the people they detain/arrest. Now, we have the White House's Chief-of-Staff, Stephen Miller, ordering ICE agents to target Home Depot‘s, and 7-Eleven’s. How would they know their immigration status, when they’re randomly stopping people on the street, with their gestapo tactics?

Stephen Miller Explicitly Ordered ICE Raid Home Depot’s

Trump was elected with the popular promise of getting rid of the illegal immigrants so I think it would be remiss of him not to make efforts to do so.

The riots look bad and the dem state gov seems reluctant to do much. I think they are hoping it will reflect badly on Trump. I don't think it will.

Shapiro reckons they should just let LA burn if the dems want it to. It is their state after all.

Originally Posted by Looper

Trump was elected with the popular promise of getting rid of the illegal immigrants so I think it would be remiss of him not to make efforts to do so.

No he wasn't. He was elected by a group of racist disenfranchised trailer park dwellers.

Originally Posted by Looper

The riots look bad and the dem state gov seems reluctant to do much.

What riots? It was less than 6 square blocks in two small locations in LA. Turn off Fox News you lemming.

Originally Posted by Looper

Shapiro reckons they should just let LA burn if the dems want it to. It is their state after all.

He is an idiot chasing clickbait. California has the 4th largest GDP in the world, it is loaded with the most wealthy people in the world. Even your overlords, the Fox News Murdock family have palatial estates there. California does not need the rest of America. The rest of America needs California.

Clueless as always.

I can't find the article now, but yesterday I read an interesting interview with a historian about his view of the current LA protests. What he essentially said is that the side that uses violence loses. For example, when southern politicians used violence against civil rights protesters pubic opinion eventually turned against them. On the other hand, when groups like the Weather Underground or Vinceramos(sp?) engaged in bombing, they lost popular support.

So, who will be the winner in the LA riots? Will people be turned off by the sight of burning cars? Or will a trigger-happy Marine or National Guardsman have a 'Kent State' moment?

Originally Posted by querty

LA Riots

Like Snubs said, this was 5 blocks, for fuck’s sake. LA is 500 sq miles.

Originally Posted by beachbound

The Americans with fewer IQ points, than teeth.

We are six months into this fiasco, and his numbers continue to tumble.

Donald Trump's Approval Rating Is Slipping, Polls Show - Newsweek

From that link:

According to polls from CNN and CBS, Trump is also outperforming Democrats in a key administration pillar, immigration. He has a net positive approval rating on immigration, soaring from -21 back in June 2017 to +1 on Wednesday, CNN Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten reported.

My own opinion is that the Orange Taco is a danger to democracy. But I am not a US voter.

Originally Posted by bsnub

Kill.

Exactly. That is what they are trained to do. This is simply the wrong place for them to be.

From the little I have seen there appears to be a small group of well-organised anrchists bent on violence. It would only take one planned attack on a group of marines to create unpredictable mayhem.