President Donald Trump said that if it were up to him, he would arrest California Governor Gavin Newsom over unrest in Los Angeles amid protests at ICE migrant raids.
Asked how Border Czar Tom Homan should respond to the governor’s dare to come and get him, the president said, “I would do it if I were Tom; I think it’s great. Gavin likes the publicity.”
Protesters and the authorities were embroiled in violent clashes overnight, after demonstrators took to the streets against the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
The first of at least 2,000 National Guard troops arrived in LA on Sunday morning, less than two days after protests first erupted. Governor Newsom urged the president to withdraw his order, and the state is now suing the administration over what it says is an illegal deployment.
In a late-night press briefing, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said that 27 arrests had been made Sunday, and warned the situation was “getting increasingly worse and more violent.” There are multiple reports of looting downtown.
Concerning law enforcement tactics, McDonnell said: “I think we gotta make a reassessment.”
Further demonstrations against ICE raids are scheduled to take place today in the nation’s second-largest city, with Mayor Karen Bass appealing for peaceful conduct.
Trump raising cash off Los Angeles protest mayhem with ‘attack on the homeland’ email
The subject line in the latest message reads: “Looking really bad in LA!”
Alex Woodward reports.
Marines expected in LA in next 24 hours, report says
ABC News reports: “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.”
As with National Guard troops, Marines are prohibited from conducting law enforcement activity, such as arrests, unless the Insurrection Act is invoked.
Trump deployment leaves National Guard sleeping on floor
Photos have emerged of National Guard troops mobilized by the Trump administration sleeping on the floor following their deployment to Los Angeles without a request from Governor Gavin Newsom.
The San Francisco Chronicle was first to publish a photo of troops sleeping on steel and concrete floor, with the governor sharing another picture soon after.
Addressing President Donald Trump, Newsom wrote: “You sent your troops here without fuel, food, water or a place to sleep. Here they are — being forced to sleep on the floor, piled on top of one another.”
He added: “If anyone is treating our troops disrespectfully, it is you @realDonaldTrump.”
The governor made the post in response to the latest Truth Social missal from the president that called protesters in Los Angeles “insurrectionists” and implied they might spit on guardsmen and women.
“Such disrespect will not be tolerated,” Trump wrote, twice repeating the phrase: “If they spit, we will hit.”
Full Marine battalion mobilized to respond to LA protests, report says
“We’ll see what happens,” President Donald Trump said when asked if he is going to send Marines to quell protests in Los Angeles.
CNN reports that a full Marine battalion, approximately 500 Marines based in Twentynine Palms, California, has been mobilized to respond to further unrest in the city.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered them to prepare to deploy over the weekend.
Reporter Natasha Bertrand tweets: “The deployment of the full Marine battalion marks a significant escalation in Trump’s use of the military as a show of force against protesters, but it is still unclear what their task will be once in LA, the sources said. Like the National Guard troops, they are prohibited from conducting law enforcement activity like making arrests unless Trump invokes the Insurrection Act.”
Newsom: ‘Trump admits he will arrest a sitting governor simply because he ran for office’
Trump says he would bring in more National Guard if needed
Speaking at this afternoon’s White House investment roundtable, President Donald Trump said he would send more National Guard troops to Los Angeles if needed.
“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.”
Dr. Phil denies he was ‘embedded’ with ICE agents during LA raid that sparked the protests – but his TV cameras were
A spokesperson for the conservative TV personality, whose real name is Phil McGraw, said he was not filming on the ground alongside immigration officials as he had previously done in Chicago as to avoid escalating the situation.
James Liddell and Isabel Keane report.
Source: independent.co.uk