The Marines plan to fire 155-millimeter artillery shells over a major freeway in Southern California on Saturday as part of a demonstration at Camp Pendleton to celebrate the Marine Corps’ 250th anniversary.
The plans to fire over the freeway triggered outrage by Gov. Gavin Newsom late Friday night after his office had been under the impression days earlier that the celebration would not involve firing munitions across Interstate 5, a heavily traveled corridor between Los Angeles and San Diego.
“This is a profoundly absurd show of force that could put Californians directly in harm’s way,” Mr. Newsom said in a statement to The New York Times.
He criticized President Trump and said the lack of coordination among state, federal and local officials was creating a dangerous situation. The artillery demonstration, to be attended by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and military officials, will take place on the same day that anti-Trump activists plan to hold “No Kings” protests across the country, including in Southern California.
“Using our military to intimidate people you disagree with isn’t strength — it’s reckless, it’s disrespectful, and it’s beneath the office the president holds,” Mr. Newsom said.
But a spokesman for Mr. Vance said the Marine Corps had assessed that the exercise posed no threat.
“Gavin Newsom wants people to think this exercise is dangerous,” William Martin, Mr. Vance’s communications director, said in a statement. “The Marine Corps says it’s an established and safe practice. Newsom wants people to think this is an absurd show of force. The Marine Corps says it’s part of routine training at Camp Pendleton.”
“If Gavin Newsom wants to oppose the training exercises that ensure our Armed Forces are the deadliest and most lethal fighting force in the world, then he can go right ahead,” Mr. Martin added.
Mr. Newsom said he’s all for celebrating military heroes but wanted more communication about the plans. The governor’s office requested additional information from the military late Friday. State officials said they had received few details from the federal government about the activities involved in Saturday’s celebration, other than a request to post a message alerting motorists of live fire on the electronic signs that line the freeway.
A White House official speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the planning said on Friday that the authorities still planned on keeping the freeway open during the demonstration.
The vice president, himself a former enlisted Marine who served in Iraq, and other dignitaries were expected to observe what the Marine Corps called an “amphibious capabilities demonstration” at the base, which may involve active duty Marines coming ashore from the sea at an oceanfront training area.
That strip of shoreline, called Red Beach, is along Interstate 5 just south of the decommissioned San Onofre nuclear power plant and is closed to the public. It was visited frequently by former President Richard M. Nixon in the 1970s because of the security and seclusion it offered.
To prepare for Saturday’s event, artillery rounds from M777 howitzers were fired from Red Beach east over Interstate 5 on Friday evening as a test run, said Capt. Gregory Dreibelbis, a spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, which is based at Camp Pendleton. Vehicular traffic along the interstate was not closed off while the artillery guns were firing, he said in a statement.
“M777 artillery pieces have historically been fired during routine training from land-based artillery firing points west of I-5 into impact areas east of the interstate within existing safety protocols and without the need to close the route,” Capt. Dreibelbis said. He called the test firings an “established and safe practice” as a rehearsal for Saturday’s event.
The shells fired by M777 howitzers, which are about six inches in diameter and two feet long, typically weigh about 90 pounds and can be fired at targets more than 15 miles away.
Marine officials did not disclose whether the shells fired Friday were high-explosive rounds, or inert practice projectiles often used for military training.
The Federal Aviation Administration has issued what it calls notices to airmen during the vice president’s visit, closing some of the airspace near Camp Pendleton while he is expected to be there. Amtrak, which runs the Pacific Surfliner train near the stretch of interstate in question, has canceled rail service in the area from noon to 3 p.m. Pacific time on Saturday.
The celebration caused confusion earlier this week, when Mr. Newsom first raised concerns that it would involve shooting missiles over the freeway. On Wednesday, his office said that state officials had begun making preliminary plans to close the freeway during the military celebration, but that they were awaiting more details from the federal government.
Late Wednesday night, the Marine Corps issued a statement saying that all events would “occur on approved training ranges and comport with established safety protocols” and that no public freeways would be closed.
On Thursday, Mr. Newsom was asked about the situation while speaking to reporters in Los Angeles.
“We were under the understanding they were going to close I-5,” he said, adding that military officials then later “seemed to back off on that.”
But the governor was visibly frustrated that the state wasn’t getting the details he felt were necessary to manage the traffic and potential public safety issues posed by the event.
“So, to be determined, what they are proposing to do,” he said.
In June, the Army staged a parade in Washington to celebrate the service’s 250th birthday, and the Navy hosted the president and other officials aboard an aircraft carrier off the coast of Virginia earlier this month to celebrate the service’s same 250-year milestone.
Mr. Trump turned that Navy event into a political rally.
Laurel Rosenhall is a Sacramento-based reporter covering California politics and government for The Times.
John Ismay is a reporter covering the Pentagon for The Times. He served as an explosive ordnance disposal officer in the U.S. Navy.
Zolan Kanno-Youngs is a White House correspondent for The Times, covering President Trump and his administration.
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