LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -California will face off with the Trump administration in court on Thursday over the deployment of U.S. troops in Los Angeles after demonstrators again took to the streets in major cities to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Some 700 U.S. Marines will be on the streets of Los Angeles by Thursday or Friday, the military said, to support up to 4,000 National Guard troops in protecting federal property and federal agents, including on immigration raids.
Trump’s decision to dispatch troops to Los Angeles over the objections of California Governor Gavin Newsom has sparked a national debate about the use of the military in law enforcement operations on U.S. soil.
A federal judge in San Francisco will hear arguments on Thursday as part of California’s lawsuit against Trump. The state is requesting a temporary restraining order to block the troops’ participation in law enforcement activities.
In a court filing on Thursday, California argued that the federal government has already violated the law by having National Guard troops assist ICE agents in immigration raids.
On Saturday, Americans likely will see split-screen images of U.S. troops on the streets of two major cities: Los Angeles, where troops are guarding federal buildings, and Washington where soldiers, accompanied by tanks and other armored vehicles, will rumble down Constitution Avenue in a rare public display of military might to celebrate the Army’s 250th birthday.
Nearly 2,000 protests against the parade, which is taking place on Trump’s 79th birthday, are planned around the country in one of the biggest demonstrations against Trump since he returned to power in January.
Mostly peaceful street protests so far this week have taken place in multiple cities besides Los Angeles including New York, Chicago, Washington and San Antonio, Texas.
The Los Angeles protests began last Friday in response to a series of immigration raids in the city. Trump in turn called in the National Guard on Saturday, then ordered the deployment of Marines on Monday.
“Los Angeles was safe and sound for the last two nights. Our great National Guard, with a little help from the Marines, put the L.A. Police in a position to effectively do their job,” Trump posted on social media on Thursday.
State and city officials say Trump is exaggerating what is happening in the city and that local police have the situation under control. The protests have been largely orderly but occasionally punctuated by violence, mostly contained to a few blocks.
Police said demonstrators at one location threw commercial-grade fireworks and rocks at officers on Wednesday night.
Another group of nearly 1,000 demonstrators was peacefully marching through downtown when police suddenly opened fire with less lethal munitions in front of City Hall.
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell, in an interview with CNN late on Wednesday, said the city was calmer and asserted that police were protecting people’s free speech rights to protest while holding those intent on violence accountable.
LIMITS SOUGHT
Trump is carrying out a campaign promise to deport immigrants, employing forceful tactics consistent with the norm-breaking political style that got him elected twice.
The administration has circulated images showing National Guard troops protecting immigration agents who were arresting suspected illegal migrants — a permissible function for the troops under federal law.
But the state argues those Guard troops have crossed the line into illegal activity under the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the military from participating in civilian law enforcement.
“For example, photos posted on social media by ICE depict heavily armed members of the National Guard standing alongside ICE agents during arrests,” California said in its latest court filing.
Unless a judge intervenes, the military’s role likely will grow to include “detention, interrogation, and other activities that are practically indistinguishable from urban policing operations,” the filing asserts.
California is seeking a court order that would stop troops from “patrolling the streets of Los Angeles” and limit their role to protecting federal personnel and property. The lawsuit
ultimately seeks a ruling that would return California’s National Guard to the state’s control and a declaration that Trump’s action was illegal.
The Trump administration said in a Wednesday court filing that the judge should not restrict the military’s activities in Los Angeles.
“Neither the National Guard nor the Marines are engaged in law enforcement. Rather, they are protecting law enforcement, consistent with longstanding practice and the inherent protective power to provide for the safety of federal property and personnel,” the administration wrote.
U.S. Army Major General Scott Sherman, who commands the task force of Marines and Guardsmen, told reporters the Marines will not load their rifles with live ammunition, but they will carry live rounds.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks, Sandra Stojanovic, Omar Younis, Jane Ross and Arafat Barbakh in Los Angeles, Dietrich Knauth in New York, and Idrees Ali in Washington; Additional reporting by Costas Pitas, Christian Martinez, Ryan Jones, Ted Hesson and Alexia Garamfalvi; Writing by Daniel Trotta and James Oliphant; Editing by Saad Sayeed, Ross Colvin, Mary Milliken and Nick Zieminski)
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