President Donald Trump is sending hundreds of US marines to Los Angeles to oppose US citizens and immigrants who have been protesting Trump’s ICE, which has been snatching and grabbing alleged undocumented immigrants, reports NBC News and CNN:
The deployment of the full Marine battalion marks a significant escalation in Trump’s use of the military as a show of force against protesters, but it is still unclear what their specific task will be once in LA, sources told CNN…
The Marines being activated are with 2nd battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine division, according to US Northern Command. The activation 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,” NORTHCOM said in statement, referring to US Army north’s contingency command post…
California Gov. Gavin Newsom described the involvement of Marines as “unwarranted” and “unprecedented.”
“The level of escalation is completely unwarranted, uncalled for, and unprecedented — mobilizing the best in class branch of the U.S. military against its own citizens,” Newsom said in a statement linking to a news story about the Marines mobilizing.
Newsom disputed the characterization as a “deployment,” which the governor described as different from mobilization. US Northern Command said in their statement, however, that the Marines will “seamlessly integrate” with National Guard forces “protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area.”
(Sources: CNN, NBC News/YouTube)