Roughly 700 U.S. Marines have been mobilized to Los Angeles to reinforce federal operations during protests, a move made without coordination with California Governor Gavin Newsom or the Los Angeles Police Department, according to officials. The activation of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, marks the most significant use of active-duty Marines within U.S. borders since the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
The Marines, based out of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in California, will supplement over 2,000 National Guard troops that President Donald Trump activated in recent days. As of Monday, only about 300 Guardsmen had been deployed to the streets of Los Angeles. A U.S. Northern Command spokesperson said the Marines are being assigned to "protect federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area."
Their duties, according to NORTHCOM, include crowd control, establishing security perimeters, and protecting federal officials from harm. However, like National Guard members, they are barred from performing law enforcement activities such as arrests unless Trump invokes the Insurrection Act.
The deployment has stirred fierce backlash among state and local leaders. "The level of escalation is completely unwarranted, uncalled for, and unprecedented-mobilizing the best in class branch of the U.S. military against its own citizens," Gov. Newsom stated. On social media, he added: "They shouldn't be deployed on American soil facing their own countrymen to fulfill the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial President."
The LAPD, led by Chief Jim McDonnell, also expressed concern, noting they received "no formal notification" of the Marine arrival. "The possible arrival of federal military forces in Los Angeles-absent clear coordination-presents a significant logistical and operational challenge for those of us charged with safeguarding this city," McDonnell stated.
McDonnell urged "open and continuous lines of communication" between agencies to avoid confusion and prevent escalation. He emphasized that local law enforcement has experience managing large-scale demonstrations and remains committed to safety.
The Marines' deployment follows four days of unrest in Los Angeles sparked by federal immigration raids. The protests intensified over the weekend, prompting the White House to increase military involvement in the absence of a request from California's leadership.
In response to the federal intervention, Newsom announced Tuesday that California would mobilize more than 800 additional state and local law enforcement officers to "clean up President Trump's mess." He also claimed that most of the federal National Guard troops remained idle. "Only approx. 300 are deployed-the rest are sitting, unused, in federal buildings without orders," he said.
As of Monday afternoon, Newsom said he had been informed that an additional 2,000 National Guard troops would be sent to Los Angeles by the Trump administration. The White House has not issued formal comment on the deployment or the governor's criticisms.
