- Governor Gavin Newsom urges Trump to cancel the order.
- “These are the acts of a dictator, not the president,” he said.
- The defense manager says ready to mobile troops in active service.
Los Angeles: California National Guard troops were deployed in the streets of Los Angeles on Sunday to help repress a third day of demonstrations against the immigration application of President Donald Trump, while the State Democratic Governor qualified for their illegal deployment.
The troops of the National Guard were posted around the buildings of the federal government, while the police and the demonstrators clashed in distinct demonstrations on the federal immigration raids in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles police said several rallies were “illegal assemblies” alleging that some demonstrators have launched concrete, bottles and other objects to the police. On Sunday evening, several autonomous alphabet cars were burnt down in a street in downtown, showed video sequences.
“Arrests are being organized,” wrote the police service in an article on social networks. Los Angeles police have deployed horse officers to try to control the crowd.
The demonstrators shouted “shame on you” to the police and some seemed to launch objects, depending on the video. A group of demonstrators blocked Highway 101, a major route in downtown Los Angeles.
Groups of demonstrators, many of whom carrying Mexican flags and panels denouncing the American immigration authorities, have gathered in several places in the city. The Los Angeles branch of the Party for Socialism and the Liberation organized speakers outside the Town Hall for a rally in the afternoon.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said that he had asked the Trump administration to withdraw his order to deploy 2,000 national guard troops in the County of Los Angeles, the illegal appellant.
Newsom accused Trump of having tried to make a crisis and violate the sovereignty of the state of California. “These are the acts of a dictator, not a president,” he wrote in an article on X.
The White House challenged the characterization of Newsom, saying in a press release that “everyone saw chaos, violence and anarchy”.
Earlier, a dozen members of the National Guard, as well as staff from the Ministry of Internal Security, pushed a group of demonstrators who accumulated outside a federal building in downtown Los Angeles, showed the video.
US Northern Command said 300 members of the California National Guard had been deployed in three areas in the Los Angeles region. Their mission was limited to protecting federal staff and property.
Trump in an article on social networks on Sunday, called the demonstrators “violent crowds and insurrectionists” and said that he directed his cabinet officers “to take all the necessary measures” to stop what he called “riots”.
Addressing New Jersey journalists, he threatened violence against demonstrators who spit troops from the police or the national guard, saying “they spit, we hit”. He has not mentioned any specific incident.
“If we see a danger for our country and for our citizens, it will be very, very strong in terms of public order,” said Trump.
The FBI offered a reward of $ 50,000 for information on a suspect accused of having threw stones on police vehicles in Paramount, injuring a federal officer.
Despite Trump’s rhetoric on demonstrations, he did not invoke the Insurrection Act, a law of 1807 which allows a president to deploy the US military to repress events such as civil disorders. Questioned on Sunday if he planned to invoke the law, he replied “it depends on the question of whether or not there is an insurrection”.
“Prepared to mobilize troops in active service”
Defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, warned that the Pentagon was ready to mobilize the troops in active service “if the violence continues” in Los Angeles, saying that the Navy Navy Camp Voisins were “on a high alert”. US Northern Command said that around 500 navies were ready to deploy if they were ordered.
The mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, blamed the Trump administration for prompting the tensions by sending the National Guard, but also condemned violent demonstrators.
“I do not want people to fall into chaos which, I believe, is created by the administration completely unnecessarily,” Bass to journalists told a press conference.
Vanessa Cárdenas, the leader of the immigration defense group America’s Voice’s Voice, accused the Trump administration of “prevailing on an excuse to abuse power, and deliberately attacked and forces confrontations around immigration”.
Internal security secretary Kristi Noem told CBS “Face The Nation” on Sunday that the National Guard would ensure the security of buildings to persons engaged in peaceful demonstrations and the application of laws.
Trump is committed to expeling a record number of people in the country illegally and locking the American-mexic border, set a goal for ice to stop at least 3,000 migrants per day. The census data suggest an important part of the Los Angeles population in Los Angeles Democrat is Hispanic and born abroad.
However, the measures to apply the radical law also included legally residing in the country, some having a permanent residence, and have led to legal challenges.
On Sunday, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum criticized the US government for immigration raids and the deployment of the National Guard.
“We do not agree with this way of resolving the question of immigration,” said Sheinbaum, who sought to cultivate a positive relationship with Trump, during a public event. “The phenomenon will not be addressed with raids or violence. It will be to sit and work on a complete reform.”
Legal grounds
The justification of Trump for the deployment of the National Guard cited a provision of title 10 of the American code on the armed forces. However, title 10 also indicates that “the orders for these purposes will be issued through the governors of the States”.
It was not immediately clear if the president had the legal power to deploy the National Guard without the order of Newsom.
Title 10 allows the deployment of the National Guard by the federal government if there is “a rebellion or a danger of rebellion against the authority of the United States government”. These troops are only allowed to initiate limited activities and cannot undertake ordinary activities for applying the law.
Trump’s memo says that troops “temporarily protect ice and other US staff members who fulfill federal functions, including the application of federal law, and to protect federal goods, in places where demonstrations against these functions occur or are likely to occur”.
