About half of the California National Guard troops deployed to Los Angeles are being released, Trump administration officials said on Tuesday, signaling a significant scaling back of a military deployment that began last month to quell demonstrations over immigration raids and that has angered Democratic leaders in California.
The release of about 2,000 members of the Guard’s 79th Infantry Brigade Combat team came as California officials pushed for an end to what the White House had suggested would be a 60-day mobilization. The infantry team was federalized by President Trump and dispatched on June 7 in the wake of chaotic protests, over the objections of California’s governor, who normally controls the state’s National Guard troops.
The initial deployment grew to more than 4,000 members of the Guard, as Los Angeles officers dealt with nightly protests in the city’s downtown and Trump administration officials said military force was necessary to restore order. An additional contingent of more than 700 active-duty Marines was also deployed to the Los Angeles area.
The state has unsuccessfully attempted in federal court to end the deployment of National Guard troops and Marines, calling the operation unlawful and a misuse of military force. Many of the Guard troops deployed in June had just finished stints assisting local officials in the aftermath of Southern California’s devastating wildfires in January.
As the Trump administration and the state continue to fight the case in court, the Guard members have remained, drawing derision from protesters as they guarded federal buildings and accompanied federal agents on raids led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol.
By June 17, nearly a month ago, Mayor Karen Bass lifted a curfew that she had imposed on a small area of downtown Los Angeles because most of the protest activity had ended. But National Guard troops have continued to be a local fixture, standing with rifles outside federal office buildings and inching through freeway traffic in armored military vehicles.
On July 1, about 150 troops in a specialized firefighting unit were released to return to their regular duty fighting wildfires. The bulk of the deployment, however, continued to be posted in a military installation south of Los Angeles, near Long Beach.
After a show of force in MacArthur Park in which about 80 National Guard troops arrived in military vehicles to support armed federal agents as they marched over a soccer field in an immigrant-heavy area of the city, Mayor Karen Bass angrily compared the display to an “armed occupation.” Gov. Gavin Newsom has repeatedly called for an end to the operation, denouncing the deployment as “theater of absurd.”
On Tuesday, Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesman, issued a statement indicating that the administration was ready to declare at least a measure of victory and begin easing the military presence. The announcement came as the deployment threatened to run longer than the initial 60-day schedule because of the time needed to process troops out of the assignment.
“Thanks to our troops who stepped up to answer the call, the lawlessness in Los Angeles is subsiding,” Mr. Parnell said in a statement. “As such, the Secretary has ordered the release of 2,000 California National Guardsmen (79th IBCT) from the federal protection mission.”
State officials said that 3,882 members of the California National Guard were currently on the deployment, and 1,990 of them belong to the brigade being let go. Another 1,892 members of the 49th Military Police Brigade, however, would remain.
Mr. Newsom called on the president to immediately release those troops as well.
“For more than a month, the National Guard has been pulled away from their families, communities and civilian work to serve as political pawns for the president in Los Angeles,” he said in a statement. “While nearly 2,000 of them are starting to demobilize, the remaining guard members continue without a mission, without direction and without any hopes of returning to help their communities.”
Shawn Hubler is The Times’s Los Angeles bureau chief, reporting on the news, trends and personalities of Southern California.
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