Around 2,000 people from the national guard have been deployed in the Los Angeles area, where massive protests have been directed against the migration authority ICE and the raids that have been carried out against residents in predominantly Latino-dominated areas.
The protests have escalated in several places into confrontations between, among other things, police and demonstrators, and there have been instances of stone-throwing, destruction, fires, and tear gas use.
Early on Sunday morning, local time, the national guard began arriving in Los Angeles. In pictures, armored vehicles and guards with automatic weapons, batons, and riot gear can be seen deployed in the central parts of the city, where a third day of protests and demonstrations is expected, according to American media.
There have been calls, among other things, for a "mass mobilization" at the city hall at 2 pm, local time. A few hours earlier, a pride parade will be held in Hollywood in support of LGBTQI rights.
The national guard is stationed, among other places, at a federal building in central Los Angeles, where there have been confrontations in recent days.
Unusual measure
On his own platform Truth Social, Trump writes that California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass cannot do their jobs, and then "the federal government has to step in and solve the problem".
According to the New York Times, this is the first time in 60 years that a sitting president has bypassed a state governor and ordered in the national guard.
Even during Trump's previous term, the national guard was deployed in various places, but then formally not via the president. It was during the nationwide and sometimes violent protests against the police and against racism after the black man George Floyd was killed during a police intervention in 2020, writes Los Angeles Times.
Trump writes in a later post that from now on, there is a ban on masks at protests.
Military preparedness
Even before the White House confirmed that the national guard had been ordered to the city, Governor Newsom said he opposed the move, and called it "deliberately provocative".
"It will only increase tensions", he wrote on X.
Defense Minister Pete Hegseth does not rule out sending even heavier troops to the area if needed.
"If the violence continues, active marine soldiers at the Pendleton base are ready to be mobilized - they are currently on high alert", Hegseth writes on X.
