As thousands of people gather in downtown Los Angeles for a fourth day of demonstrations against widespread immigration crackdowns across Southern California, Chief of Police Jim McDonnell called the deployment of hundreds of U.S. Marines a “significant logistical and operational challenge.”
The deployment of the federal military forces comes on the heels of President Trump unilaterally federalizing California’s National Guard, a move criticized by Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass, both of whom say the president is unnecessarily escalating tensions in the city.
At a Sunday evening press conference, Chief McDonnell told reporters that law enforcement in L.A. County has a long history of working together and he would have gone through a number of other options, including mutual aid, before he requested the assistance of the guard.
In a statement released this afternoon, the police chief said the addition of U.S. Marines will further complicate law enforcement’s ability to handle the demonstrations.
“The arrival of federal military forces in Los Angeles – absent clear coordination – presents significant logistical and operational challenges for those of us charged with safeguarding this city. The Los Angeles Police Department, alongside our mutual aid partners, has decades of experience managing large-scale public demonstrations, and we remain confident in our ability to do so professionally and effectively,” McDonnell said. “That said, our top priority is the safety of both the public and the officers on the ground. We are urging open and continuous lines of communication between all agencies to prevent confusion, avoid escalation, and ensure a coordinated, lawful, and orderly response during this critical time.”
Newsom has continued to criticize the Trump Administration’s tactics, posting photos to X, formerly Twitter, of national guardsmen sleeping on a floor in an unknown location.
“You sent your troops here without fuel, food, water or a place to sleep,” Newsom said in a post aimed at the president. “Here they are – being forced to sleep on the floor, piled on top of one another. If anyone is treating our troops disrespectfully, it’s you.”
Just a few hours later, Newsom said on X that he had been informed that Trump was sending an additional 2,000 members of the guard despite those already deployed who are “sitting unused in federal buildings without orders.”
“This isn’t about public safety. It’s about stroking a dangerous President’s ego,” Newsom said. “This is reckless. Pointless. And Disrespectful to our troops.”
For his part, President Trump, while speaking to reporters Monday outside the White House, said he believes Tom Homan, Acting Director of ICE, should arrest Newsom.
It is unclear where the hundreds of Marines deployed will stay and how long their U.S. military forces and the National Guard will remain in Los Angeles.
Since June 7, L.A. police have made 50 arrests, 29 on Saturday for failure to disperse and 21 on Sunday, with charges ranging from attempted murder of a police officer with a Molotov cocktail to looting and, again, failure to disperse.
City leaders and law enforcement officials are bracing for yet another night of possible violent demonstrations.
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