The administration of US President Donald Trump has sent thousands of more soldiers to Los Angeles on the fourth day of chaotic protests against the immigration raid, as unrest has spread to other American cities.
Some 700 American marines have been deployed in the LA region and a contingent of National Guard soldiers gathered to help reduce the disorder has been reduced to 4,000.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said that the move was completing “deranged imagination of a dictatorial president”.
The state is sueing the President for sending soldiers without the permission of the Governor. This is highly uncommon for any domestic law enforcement role for the US Army.
At least four Mexican citizens detained in LA since Friday have already been sent back to Mexico, the country’s foreign affairs office announced on Monday.
The deadlock in LA represents the first time since 1965 that a President has sent the National Guard soldiers to the American city without the approval of a governor.
The American Marine was first deployed domestic for major disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and 11 September 2001 attacks in 2005.
The Trump administration has not yet called for the Rebellion Act, which will allow their deployed soldiers to participate directly in civil policing.
On Tuesday morning, the LA county prosecutor reiterated the state officials’ approach that additional deployment was unnecessary. District Attorney Nathan Hocheman told the BBC Radio 4 program of Radio 4, “We have not arrived at the point where the local law has gone beyond our means to deal with the enforcement situation.”
Hochman said that only one “small fraction” of the area’s population was actually opposing, and a small number also broke the law.
But he said that there were many examples of crime, “Whether it is burning the Wemo vehicles, throwing cinder blocks on police and bricks, driving a motorcycle in the police, or vandalism – and via frescoes – defaming through public and private buildings”.
The US Army said that 700 members of 2 battalions will help protect federal property and personnel including Twentinine Palms, 7th Marine from California, immigration agents.
On Monday evening, police officers at Los Angeles fired stun grenade and gas cannons to disperse hundreds of protesters, gathered outside a federal detention center at downtown LA, where unreasonable immigrants have been held.
The National Guard Forces formed a cordon to keep the protesters out of the building at the center of the second largest city in the US.
Some protesters threw the items at the officials, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) also said on Monday.
At the end of that day, American Attorney General Palm Bondi revealed the identity of a person accused of attacking rocks on federal agents.
Bondi stated that a search warrant has been held at his home, and that the Alpidio Reyana will be added to the US’s “Most Wanted” list.
Protests also took place in at least nine other American cities including New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, Austin and San Francisco.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were raiding Latin areas.
Protests are being looted, self-driving cars being tortured, rocks thrown on law enforcement and a major freeway blocked by protesters.
Lapd says that he arrested 21 more people on Saturday night and 21 more people on Sunday night.
The suspects face allegations from attempting murder with Molotov Cocktail to attack a police officer.
Lapd also states that more than 600 rubber tablets and other minimal rounds were used over the weekend.
At the White House on Monday, Trump said his decision to send to the National Guard had stopped the city from “burning down”.
The President said, “You see the clip I did: the cars are burning, rioting people, we stopped it.” “I think we had no choice.”
The Republican President said that he supported a suggestion that the Governor of California should be arrested on a possible obstruction of immigration enforcement measures of his administration.
Newsom, who has been engaged in the war of words in recent times with Trump, replied on X that “this is a surefire step towards totalitarianism”. He said that the deployment of the contingent was “about breaking the ego of a dangerous president”.
Trump’s Seema Zar Tom Homan later told CNN that he saw anything “not at this time” that he felt that the Governor of California would be arrested.
Trump also gave direct warning to the police and the protesters facing federal forces.
He wrote on social media: “If they spit, we will hit, and I promise you that they will be struck by harder than before. Such disrespect will not be tolerated!”
At a press conference on Monday evening, La Mayor Karen Bass echoed the views of other local authorities, saying that the deployment of soldiers was a “deliberate attempt” by the Trump administration to “create disorder and anarchy in our city”.
The city leader also said that he knew about at least “raids with snow in the entire region” on Monday, which includes one near his grandson’s school.
Trump’s national guard deployment faces a legal challenge from Newsom. The lawsuit argues that the President was violating the US Constitution and the sovereignty of California. Newsom has also threatened to take separate legal action on maritime deployment.
Trump has argued that his predecessor, Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration allowed millions of migrants to illegally enter the country.
He has promised to deport the record numbers of unspecified migrants, set a target of at least 3,000 daily arrests.
