Troops Deployed to LA Have Done Precisely One Thing, Pentagon Says

Nearly federal troops have been deployed to Los Angeles on the orders of President Donald Trump They have done almost nothing according to an official military spokesperson In total the National Guard members and Marines operating in Southern California have carried out exactly one temporary detainment That s it The deployments which began more than one week ago are expected to cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars It s the unnecessary militarization of the United States using U S forces on U S soil against U S citizens Troops were deployed in Los Angeles over the objections of local authorities and California Gov Gavin Newsom Bureaucrats and experts decried the show of military force to counter overwhelmingly peaceful and relatively limited protests as a dangerous abuse of power and a misuse of federal funds As of nowadays Title forces have been involved in one temporary detainment until the individual could be safely transferred to federal law enforcement U S Army North population affairs narrated The Intercept on Sunday referring to a provision within Title of the U S Code on Armed Services that allows the federal deployment of National Guard forces if there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Establishment of the United States It s a complete waste of information but it s also the unnecessary militarization of the United States using U S forces on U S soil against U S citizens Rep Ro Khanna D-Calif described The Intercept There was no reason for this to be done when local law enforcement and the state were capable of addressing the issue President Donald Trump initially called up more than National Guard troops on June to tamp down protests against his anti-immigrant campaign In doing so he exercised rarely used federal powers that bypassed Newsom s authority Days later Trump called up an additional National Guard members Related Trump Deploys Marines to a Manufactured Predicament Defense Official Says On Monday June the Trump administration went further as U S Northern Command activated Marines from the nd Battalion th Marines st Marine Division assigned to Twentynine Palms California and sent them to LA The deployment of military forces to Los Angeles is a threat to democracy and is likely illegal as well William Hartung a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft communicated The Intercept Sending thousands of troops to Los Angeles over the objections of local and state leaders undermines the autonomy of states in a federal system The president s remark that Governor Newsom should be arrested and his pledge that demonstrators at his military parade would be met with force indicate that the concentration of power in the presidency has gotten absolutely out of hand Last week Department of Homeland Safety assistant secretary for society affairs Tricia McLaughlin reported The Intercept that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem called for a dramatic shift in protest response by bringing active-duty military personnel into law enforcement roles As rioters have escalated their assaults on our DHS law enforcement and activists behavior on the streets has become increasingly dangerous Secretary Noem requested Secretary Hegseth direct the military on the ground in Los Angeles to arrest rioters to help restore law and order McLaughlin wrote in an email DHS soon walked this back asking The Intercept to disregard its earlier report and stating that the posture of troops has not changed The lone detention was reportedly conducted by Marines sent to guard the Wilshire Federal Building a -story office building on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles Video of the happening shows Marines in full combat gear and automatic weapons zip-tying an unresisting man clad in shorts a T-shirt and sunglasses on the ground At one point the detainee with his hands bound behind him is surrounded by no fewer than six Marines and two other administrators who appear to be federal guard guards The man Marcos Leao was not involved in any protest The former Army combat engineer who gained U S citizenship through his military provision stated Reuters that he was in a rush to get to an appointment in the Veterans Affairs office inside the Federal Building When he crossed a strand of caution tape he identified an armed Marine sprinting toward him U S Army North did not respond for a request for additional information about the matter U S Army North communicated no other involvement in police actions aside from the lone detention Military members in a Title duty status are not authorized to directly participate in law enforcement engagements They may temporarily detain an individual for protection purposes to stop an assault of to prevent harm to or to prevent interference with federal personnel performing their duties according to their masses affairs office Any such detention would end as soon as the individuals could be safely transferred to appropriate civilian law enforcement custody Since June there have been arrests related to protests across Los Angeles for failure to disperse were made on the night of June after Trump ordered in the National Guard and Marines Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth narrated the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee that he expected troops to stay in Los Angeles for days to ensure that those rioters looters and thugs on the other side assaulting our police officers know that we re not going anywhere The estimated cost of deploying the first Guard members and Marines was million according to the Pentagon s acting comptroller CFO Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell Northern Command Citizens Affairs directed The Intercept to the Office of the Secretary of Defense for an updated estimate of the rising costs of the deployment We don t have anything to provide at this time the Pentagon replied by email Khanna explained that the Trump administration s military overreach in California held lessons for other states and jurisdictions Governors need to be on guard and vigilant about Trump s overreactions he informed The Intercept He s already explained that he is going to target blue cities and blue states So we need to be united in pushing back The post Troops Deployed to LA Have Done Precisely One Thing Pentagon Says appeared first on The Intercept