The military has activated about 700 active-duty Marines who could be sent to Los Angeles, joining National Guard troops who were sent to the city to respond to protests, the U.S. Northern Command said in a statement.
Members of the Marine Corps could start arriving in the Los Angeles area as soon as Tuesday, a defense official told CBS News. The Marines are based in Twentynine Palms, a city east of Los Angeles.
Northern Command said the Marines will “seamlessly integrate” with hundreds of members of the National Guard to protect “federal personnel and federal property.” They have been trained in “de-escalation, crowd control and standing rules for the use of force,” the military added.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Monday that around 700 Marines “are being deployed to Los Angeles to restore order.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom suggested late Monday he could take legal action over the planned use of Marines, calling it illegal.
In a post on X, he wrote, “U.S. Marines serve a valuable purpose for this country — defending democracy. They are not political pawns. The Secretary of Defense is illegally deploying them onto American streets so Trump can have a talking point at his parade this weekend. It’s a blatant abuse of power. We will sue to stop this. The Courts and Congress must act. Checks and balances are crumbling. This is a red line — and they’re crossing it. WAKE UP!”
Northern Command said the Marines who were activated are from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, an infantry unit based in Twentynine Palms. Hegseth said the Marines are being deployed from a different base — Camp Pendleton, south of Los Angeles.
When asked earlier Monday about the possibility of sending in Marines, President Trump said, “We’ll see what happens.”
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDowell said in a statement that the agency has decades of experience managing large-scale public demonstration and can handle the protests.
“The 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,” he said in response to the possible deployment of Marines, adding that there needs to be open communication between all agencies to prevent confusion and avoid escalation.
Newsom’s office said on X earlier Monday that it did not believe the Marines had been deployed yet, writing: “From our understanding, this is moving Marines from one base to another base.”
Mr. Trump deployed National Guard troops to downtown Los Angeles over the weekend to respond to tense protests over Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests. The Trump administration argues the deployment is necessary to protect federal property and ICE agents from violence. Mr. Trump has accused local leaders of not doing enough to deal with violent clashes at the protests.
Newsom opposed the deployment, and the state of California is suing the Trump administration over what it argues is an illegal federalization of the National Guard. Some local officials have argued the deployment could aggravate an already caustic situation in downtown Los Angeles, and say state and local police agencies can handle the protests themselves.
“We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved,” Newsom posted on X Monday.
The military said Monday it was mobilizing another 2,000 members of the California National Guard to respond to the protests.
Eleanor Watson is a CBS News multi-platform reporter and producer covering the Pentagon.
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