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Officials: Trump authorizes additional 2,000 National Guard members to LA

LOS ANGELES — President Donald Trump authorized on Monday the deployment of an additional 2,000 National Guard members to help respond to protests in Los Angeles over immigration raids, according to U.S. officials.

The order would put them on active duty. One official warned, however, that the order was just signed and it could take a day or two to get troops moving.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss troop movements.

Gov. Gavin Newsom called the move reckless and “disrespectful to our troops” in a post on the social platform X.

“This isn’t about public safety. It’s about stroking a dangerous President’s ego,” Newsom said.

The Pentagon also deployed about 700 Marines to Los Angeles on Monday to help National Guard members respond to protests over immigration raids, officials said, as California sued Trump over his use of the Guard troops and demonstrators took to the city’s streets for a fourth day.

The Marines are being deployed from their base at Twentynine Palms in the Southern California desert to protect federal property and personnel, including federal immigration agents, U.S. Northern Command said in a statement.

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement Monday afternoon he was confident in the police department’s ability to handle large-scale demonstrations and that the Marines’ arrival without coordinating with the police department presented a “significant logistical and operational challenge” for them.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the lawsuit over the use of National Guard troops by telling reporters that Trump had “trampled” the state’s sovereignty.

“We don’t take lightly to the president abusing his authority and unlawfully mobilizing California National Guard troops,” Bonta said. He sought a court order declaring Trump’s use of the Guard unlawful and asking for a restraining order to halt the deployment.

The arrival of the National Guard followed two days of protests that began Friday in downtown Los Angeles after federal immigration authorities arrested more than 40 people that day across the city.

The smell of smoke hung in the air downtown Monday, one day after crowds blocked a major freeway and set self-driving cars on fire as police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades.

The law enforcement presence was heavy, with police cars from neighboring cities blocking the street in front of the federal detention facility that was a focus of the protests.

The clashes unfolded over just a few square blocks in an immense city of some 4 million people, most of whom went about their normal business on peaceful streets.

On Monday, thousands flooded the streets around City Hall for a union rally ahead of a hearing for arrested labor leader David Huerta, who was freed a few hours later on a $50,000 bond. Huerta’s arrest on Friday while protesting immigration raids has become a rallying cry for people angry over the administration’s crackdown. He is the president of the Service Employees International Union California, which represents thousands of the state’s janitors, security officers and other workers.

Early protests Monday had a calm and even joyful atmosphere at times, with people dancing to live music and buoyed by Huerta’s release.

Protesters linked hands outside the downtown federal detention center where Huerta was being held, and at times sang in front of a line of police officers, who unsuccessfully asked people to move off the road and onto the sidewalk. Religious leaders joined the protesters, working with organizers at times to deescalate moments of tension.

Chanting against a line of National Guard troops with Homeland Security officers behind them surrounding the federal buildings ramped up in the afternoon as people yelled, “Free them all!” and “National Guard go away.”

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