Here’s What Marines and the National Guard Can (and Can’t) Do at LA Protests
1 min read
Summary
Active-duty US Marines are in Los Angeles to protect federal buildings in response to protests against immigration raids and neighbourhood sweeps.
President Trump federalised 4,000 California national guardsmen, overruling the state’s officials, to tackle the protests.
A US district judge ordered Trump to return control to the state of California, ruling that the takeover was unlawful and likely to inflame tensions.
This was supported by a federal appeals court, pending a hearing next week.
The deployment of troops against civilian demonstrators could blur the line between law enforcement and military power and set a dangerous precedent for presidential authority, according to constitutional experts.
Such deployments also represent a sharp break from decades of consensus about the role of the military in civil disturbances at home.
Widespread protests are expected in LA and at some 2,000 other locations across the US this weekend.
