Marines Have Arrived In Los Angeles In Response To The Protests
- 11.06.2025, 10:16
This marked the first time in decades.
Hundreds of U.S. Marines have arrived in Los Angeles under orders from President Donald Trump. Protests against immigration raids have continued there for the fifth day. Amid ongoing clashes, arson and "mass arrests," city authorities have imposed a curfew. At the same time, California Governor Gavin Newsom said "democracy is under attack."
As Reuters reported, about 700 Marines are in the Seal Beach area, about 50 kilometers from Los Angeles, awaiting deployment. They have been mobilized to assist the National Guard, some 2,100 of whose fighters are already in Los Angeles (out of a planned 4,000).
This marks the first time in decades that a US president has deployed the National Guard, much less the Marines, to quell protests without the request or consent of state authorities, the source said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the move "inflammatory" and "deliberate chaos." Newsom reiterated that the state would sue the Trump administration, accusing the president of a "brazen abuse of power."
Donald Trump, for his part, said the military would remain in Los Angeles "until there is peace" and that he would "liberate Los Angeles" from a "full-scale assault on peace, public order and national sovereignty by foreign-flagged rioters."
Curfew and "mass arrests"
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced a curfew for an area of about one square mile (2.5 square kilometers) in the city center that will be in effect from 8 p.m. to 06 p.m. local time for several days. The decision came after 23 stores were looted Monday night, according to the mayor.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said that anyone in the curfew zone without a valid reason (exceptions are made for neighborhood residents, the homeless, accredited media and emergency services) "will be subject to arrest," CNN reported.
Already Tuesday, police said 197 arrests had been made - more than in all previous days of protests combined. Late Tuesday night, the LAPD reported "mass arrests" as several groups of protesters continued to gather in the curfew zone.
Clashes and Reaction
The protests, sparked by intensified immigration raids, continued for a fifth day. They have included arson attacks on unmanned vehicles, clashes with police who have used tear gas and other non-lethal means to disperse crowds.
Governor Newsom said in an address to California residents that "democracy is under attack" and accused Congress of inaction in the face of the president's actions. White House officials responded by calling the governor's words "incompetence" and "blaming Trump for his own failures."
Protests demanding an end to immigration raids were also held in other US cities, including New York, Atlanta and Chicago.