Pentagon to temporarily deploy hundreds of marines to Los Angeles, reports say

By Guardian-Robert Mackey/Lucy Campbell/Marina Dunbar/Joe Coughlan/Kate Lamb - Mon 9 Jun 2025 22.02 BST

US military reportedly says it is sending 700 marines to the city but that Insurrection Act is not expected to be invoked. LA braces for more protests against immigration raids. Trump’s protest response risks politicizing military, veterans warn. Pentagon to temporarily deploy about 700 Marines to Los Angeles - reports

Despite comments made by Donald Trump just now (“we’ll see”), the US military is set to temporarily deploy about 700 Marines to Los Angeles while additional National Guard troops arrive in the city, a US official has told Reuters.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said a battalion would be sent, but for now, the Insurrection Act is not expected to be invoked.

The official added that the situation was fluid and could change.

Abené Clayton

Along the six-mile stretch between Central Los Angeles and Downtown, signs of the weekend’s demonstrations were scarce on Monday morning, save for spray-painted messages of “Say no to unlawful orders” on a building in Koreatown, a mostly Asian and Latino neighborhood.

Along Wilshire Boulevard, which spans 15 miles from Santa Monica to Downtown, it appeared to be business as usual with vendors outside of train stations and office workers taking their lunches and smoke breaks.

Once downtown, the quietness continued with the area’s Grand Central Market buzzing with tourists. The usual signs of protest, like boarded-up business and fenced-off parks, were largely absent. But closer to City Hall, some buildings were freshly graffitied with the slogans “Fuck Ice” and “Fuck Trump”, and there was a low hum of chants and drums from a demonstration organized by the local Service Employees International Union (SEIU) filled the air.

Across the street from City Hall – the steps of which were guarded by four police officers with riot helmets on – hundreds of people had gathered to protest the violent arrest of the president of SEIU California, David Huerta, on Friday.

Huerta, who was serving as a community observer during an Ice raid in Los Angeles, and was arrested by federal agents and charged on Monday with “conspiracy to impede an officer”

Trump is 'intentionally trying to inflame' LA protests, says Jeffries

The House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, said at a news conference in Washington DC that California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, and the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, deserve credit for “managing a fragile situation that Donald Trump and the extreme Maga Republicans are intentionally trying to inflame”.

Asked by a reporter if images of civil unrest would be a political problem for Democrats running in the 2026 midterms, “if they might be asked to defend some of these things”, Jeffries said: “No one is actually defending any unlawful behavior; I am defending the right for the American people to peacefully assemble”.

“We will not be lectured by Donald Trump and anyone in the Republican party about issues of law and order,” the New York Democrat added. “You know what he did … on day one? He pardoned hundreds of violent felons, criminals who brutally assaulted police officers and attacked the Capitol on January 6.”

ABC News has the number at 700 Marines from Twentynine Palms ordered to “assist” in Los Angeles, citing a US official. Per ABC: “The Marines are expected to arrive over the next 24 hours according to the official. They will be tasked with a support role, helping law enforcement only.”

CNN is also reporting this but puts the number at 500 Marines based out of Twentynine Palms in California who have been mobilized to respond to protests in LA.

Like National Guard troops, Marines are prohibited from conducting law enforcement activity, such as arrests, unless the Insurrection Act is invoked.

Pentagon to temporarily deploy about 700 Marines to Los Angeles - reports

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said a battalion would be sent, but for now, the Insurrection Act is not expected to be invoked.

The official added that the situation was fluid and could change.

Trump says 'we'll see what happens' on deploying marines to California

Asked at the roundtable if he will deploy marines in California, Trump said: “We’ll see what happens.”

I think we have it very well under control. I think it would’ve been a very bad situation, it was heading in the wrong direction – it’s now heading in the right direction.

Waymo suspends service in downtown Los Angeles after self-driving cars set aflame

The self-driving taxi service Waymo suspended its operations in Downtown Los Angeles on Monday after demonstrators set several of the company’s vehicles on fire during the city’s immigration protests over the weekend. Ridesharing via the autonomous vehicles is still available in other neighborhoods, but, according to a spokesperson, Waymo has removed its cars from the downtown area in coordination with the Los Angeles Police Department.

Waymo, which is owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, made its driverless cars publicly available in Los Angeles last year and has been seeking to expand its services. It also operates in multiple other cities, most prominently San Francisco. Images from the weekend’s demonstrations showed several of the company’s taxis aflame and covered in graffiti.

Trump says events in LA weren't an insurrection 'but it could have led to one'

At the roundtable, Trump stopped short of calling the LA protests an insurrection, but said “it could have led to one”. (This is at odds with his labelling of protestors as “insurrectionists” on social media less than an hour ago, he did yesterday too).

Lauren Gambino

California governor Gavin Newsom called Donald Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard to Los Angeles over his objections an “unmistakable step toward authoritarianism” and asked the governors “red or blue” to join him in denouncing the president’s actions.

“Every governor, red or blue, should reject this outrageous overreach. This is beyond incompetence — this is him intentionally causing chaos, terrorizing communities, and endangering the principles of our great democracy,” Newsom said in a statement, announcing the state’s lawsuit against the administration over the move to mobilize 2,000 California National Guard troops.

It is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism. We will not let this stand.

According to the governor’s office, the lawsuit names Trump, defense secretary Pete Hegseth and the Department of Defense. It argues that Trump’s order to federalize the state National Guard violates the Constitution and exceeds the president’s authority, “not only because the takeover occurred without the consent or input of the Governor, as federal law requires, but also because it was unwarranted”.

Trump says he would bring in more National Guard to California 'if we needed it'

Asked why he didn’t consult with California governor Gavin Newsom about deploying the National Guard to the streets of LA, Trump repeated his usual insults about Newsom being “incompetent”.

Speaking at a roundtable at the White House focused on business investment, Trump went on:

If I didn’t get involved, if we didn’t bring the Guard in – and we would bring more in if we needed it, because we have to make sure there’s going to be law and order – you had a disaster happening … They were overwhelmed, you saw what was happening.

He then adds:

It’s lucky for the people in Los Angeles and in California that we did what we did. We got in just in time. It’s still simmering a little bit, but not very much.

After a series of immigration raids across the city of Los Angeles on Friday inspired mostly peaceful protests involving a few hundred people, the situation escalated on Saturday when Donald Trump took the unprecedented step of mobilizing the National Guard – the country’s military reserve units – claiming the demonstrations amounted to “rebellion” against the authority of the US government. The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, called the decision “purposefully inflammatory”. Here’s a visual look at what actually happened on the streets.

Trump LA protest response risks turning US military into political force, veterans warn

Ed Pilkington

The Trump administration’s deployment of national guard troops to Los Angeles to intervene in civilian protests in the face of opposition from the Californian governor is a major escalation that risks the politicisation of the US military, armed service veterans are warning.

Former top military figures have told the Guardian that the decision to put up to 2,000 troops under federal control and send them into the streets of LA is a violation of the military’s commitment to keep out of domestic politics in all but the most exceptional circumstances. The last time a US president federalised the national guard against the wishes of a state governor was in 1965, when Lyndon Johnson deployed them to protect civil rights marchers in Alabama.

“This is the politicisation of the armed forces,” said Maj Gen Paul Eaton. “It casts the military in a terrible light – it’s that man on horseback, who really doesn’t want to be there, out in front of American citizens.”

Eaton, who commanded the training of Iraqi troops during the invasion of Iraq, predicted that the LA deployment would lead to the eventual invocation of the Insurrection Act. The 1807 law empowers the president to deploy the full US military against insurrection or armed rebellion.

“We are headed towards the invocation of the Insurrection Act, which will provide a legal basis for inappropriate activity,” he said.

Trump LA protest response risks turning US military into political force, veterans warn

Nancy Pelosi has called Trump’s suggestion that he would support the arrest of Gavin Newsom “the hallmark of authoritarianism on the road to tyranny”.

The former House speaker said in a statement:

The ongoing arrests in California of families and children obeying the law are evidence of a broader pattern of Ice’s renegade behavior across the country. The resulting peaceful demonstrations against these actions are a manifestation of understandable fear in our communities.

Now we have seen the President of the United States say that he would arrest a sitting American governor just for disagreeing with the actions of this Administration. This is the hallmark of authoritarianism on the road to tyranny – and all Americans should be shocked and appalled by the President’s blatant disregard for our Constitutional system.

The Trump Administration’s escalation and provocation inflames tensions and incites violence. All Americans must be able to exercise their Constitutional right to lawfully and peacefully protest. We must shine a bright light on the unlawful tactics of the Trump Administration so that freedom of speech prevails.

Trump's support for arresting Newsom is 'more bluster, more threats', says California attorney general

Lauren Gambino

Donald Trump’s endorsement of arresting the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, is “more bluster, more threats” from the president, the state’s attorney general Rob Bonta said, dismissing the threat.

Earlier today, Newsom called Trump’s support for the arrest of a sitting governor an “unmistakable step toward authoritarianism”.

Bonta said the governor would have “nothing to worry about” if the Trump administration sought to slap cuffs on Newsom. Earlier, Tom Homan, the administration’s border czar, threatened to arrest anyone who obstructed immigration enforcement efforts in the state, including Newsom and Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass.

“Everything Governor Newsom has done and is doing is completely lawful in the best interest of California, supporting California and California’s people, our future, our financial resources, lawfully,” Bonta said.

And it is the President that needs to put a mirror up to himself and realize that the unlawful actor here is him.

Bonta said the Trump administration had infringed on the state’s “sovereignty” by mobilizing the state National Guard over the objections of the governor. He said local law enforcement - which includes the nation’s largest sheriff’s department and the third largest police force in the US – was “more than capable” of handling the situation and that Trump’s mobilization escalated it.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Greg Casar has accused Trump of “politicizing and weaponizing” the National Guard, and called the president’s threat to deploy marines to the streets of LA “an illegal and authoritarian escalation”.

Accusing Trump of “political theater”, Casar, a Democratic Texas representative, in a statement called for the president to return command of the National Guard to California’s state governor, Gavin Newsom.

The statement reads:

Trump politicizing and weaponizing the National Guard makes us all less safe and less free. His threat to deploy the Marines into the streets of an American city is an illegal and authoritarian escalation.

Trump’s threats have nothing to do with keeping people safe — it’s about political theater. He’s scapegoating immigrants to distract from the GOP’s real agenda: ripping health care away from millions to pay for tax cuts for the ultra-rich.

We will not be intimidated. Progressives are standing up to this administration, including by conducting lawful oversight at Ice detention centers in Los Angeles and across the country. We stand with Angelenos, and we stand with immigrant families everywhere. The President must return command of the National Guard to Governor Newsom.

Rachel Leingang

About 100 new protests have been added to a mass mobilization set for Saturday since Trump mobilized the National Guard in California, an organizer tells me.

Event organizers for 14 June mass protests, dubbed “No Kings”, say there are now more than 1,800 sites signed up around the country. A map for the protests shows near-total coverage of the US, from cities to small towns.

Trump’s escalation comes days before a planned mass protest on Saturday, set to align with his military parade in Washington DC. Organizers have added capacity for ‘know your rights’ trainings, marshals training, host updates and office hours because signups are spiking.

“The No Kings mobilizations on June 14 were already planned as a peaceful stand against authoritarian overreach and the gross abuse of power this administration has shown,” the coalition behind the No Kings protests said in a statement yesterday.

“Now, this military escalation only confirms what we’ve known: this government wants to rule by force, not serve the people. From major cities to small towns, we’ll rise together and say: we reject political violence. We reject fear as governance. We reject the myth that only some deserve freedom.”

This is from Hillary Clinton

California Governor Newsom didn't request the National Guard be deployed to his state following peaceful demonstrations.

Trump sent them anyway. It's the first time in 60 years a president has made that choice.

Trump's goal isn't to keep Californians safe.

His goal is to…
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 9, 2025

California to file lawsuit against Trump for 'unlawfully' federalizing state's national guard

Lauren Gambino

The state of California will file a lawsuit accusing the Trump administration of “unlawfully” federalizing the state’s National Guard and deploying its troops to quell immigration protests over the objections of the governor, Gavin Newsom.

Previewing the lawsuit on Monday, the California attorney general, Rob Bonta accused the Trump administration of escalating what began on Friday as scattered protests that erupted into unrest.

“This was not inevitable,” Bonta said of the demonstrations that built over the weekend following Ice raids across Los Angeles, adding:

There was no risk of rebellion, no threat of foreign invasion. No, inability for the federal government to enforce federal laws.

Newsom has called it “illegal and immoral” for the president to take control of the state’s National Guard, and argued that local law enforcement agencies had been managing the situation.

The attorney general’s office has not formally filed the lawsuit, but said it would be “on file” by early this afternoon.