A US Marine battalion is being sent to Los Angeles to help maintain order as anti-ICE riots continued to rage across Southern California.
On Sunday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told Marines to prepare for deployment to LA “if violence continues.”
On Monday, he made good on the promise, ordering 700 Marines from Twentynine Palms, California, to travel to LA, CNN and ABC News reported, citing sources.
The incoming marines will join the 300 National Guards troops already on the ground. President Trump ordered 2,000 members of the California National Guard to be ready to deploy in LA.
The incoming marines are expected to help relieve some of the guard members, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
On Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for dispatching the National Guard to the protests, claiming that it has only encouraged more chaos in the streets.
Protests evolved into riots on Sunday as protesters shut down the streets–including the 101 Freeway – and turned the entirety of downtown LA into an unlawful assembly zone.
Some protesters set at least five automonous Waymo cars on fire, while others lobbed glass bottles and even slabs of concrete at the police dressed in full riot gear. Waymo, the driverless taxi service, had to temporarily suspend its app so protesters would stop ordering the taxis just to set them on fire.
Still, many have gotten caught up in the crossfire, including an Australian reporter shot with a rubber bullet while on air.
The protesters have come prepared with a variety of garb to conceal their faces, including many flags for Mexico or some combining the Mexican and American banners. One oddball protester showed up on stilts and was tackled by authorities.
Newsom doubled down on his critics of Trump and his administration as the protests rage on and dared border czar Tom Homan to arrest him. Trump said he “would do it” – if he were Homan, at least.
So far, at least 56 people have been arrested at the protests since they started on Friday.
