Los Angeles, June 10 (IANS) About 700 US Marines have been mobilised to respond to the protests in Los Angeles, the second-largest city in the country.
The Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, based at US Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, California, will join the thousands of National Guard troops who were activated by US President Donald Trump over the weekend without the consent of California’s governor or Los Angeles mayor, according to the report.
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, Xinhua news agency reported quoting CNN.
Like the National Guard troops, the Marines are prohibited from conducting law enforcement activity such as making arrests unless Trump invokes the Insurrection Act, which permits the president to use the military to end an insurrection or rebellion of federal power, said the report.
Twentynine Palms is around 220 kilometres east of downtown Los Angeles.
The Marines mobilised in Los Angeles will be tasked with defending federal property and personnel, two US Department of Defence officials was quoted as saying by NBC News, while ABC News reported that they’re expected to arrive over the next 24 hours.
Trump took extraordinary action on Saturday by calling up 2,000 National Guard troops to quell immigration protests in the Los Angeles region, making rare use of federal powers and bypassing the authority of Governor of California Gavin Newsom.
About 300 National Guard troops arrived early Sunday morning in downtown Los Angeles. More than 1,000 protesters clashed and faced off with National Guard troops in the city on Sunday during the demonstrations against immigration raids that swept across California over the weekend.
–IANS
int/rs