People demonstrate against the California National Guard outside the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles on June 9. Photo / Karla Gachet, for the Washington Post
People demonstrate against the California National Guard outside the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles on June 9. Photo / Karla Gachet, for the Washington Post
About half of the California National Guard troops deployed to Los Angeles last month are being released, the Pentagon said, significantly pulling back the Trump Administration’s unprecedented military deployment to the city.
“Thanks to our troops who stepped up to answer the call, the lawlessness in Los Angeles is subsiding.
“As such, the Secretary has ordered the release of 2000 California National Guardsmen from the federal protection mission,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
Trump ordered about 4000 California National Guard troops and 700 active-duty Marines to Los Angeles in June, following mass demonstrations in response to immigration raids across region, including outside a Home Depot in Paramount.
Protests drew thousands of people but were not especially large by Los Angeles standards.
Videos circulated showing smashed cars and self-driving Waymo cars set ablaze, and Los Angeles police reported that some people threw “concrete, bottles, and other objects”.
But the protests remained contained to a few downtown blocks, and instances of violence were sporadic.
United States President Donald Trump repeatedly condemned participants as “insurrectionists,” “looters” and “criminals” before deploying the military to the city.
The move escalated Trump’s feud with Governor Gavin Newsom and other Democratic state leaders.
Newsom called on the Defence Department to send the remaining National Guard troops home.
“For more than a month, the National Guard has been pulled away from their families, communities and civilian work to serve as political pawns for the President in Los Angeles,” he said in a statement.
“While nearly 2000 of them are starting to demobilise, the remaining guard members continue without a mission, without direction and without any hopes of returning to help their communities.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Pentagon released 150 National Guard members earlier this month in its first rollback.
As of last week, mass anti-ICE protests had given way to more methodical dissent as the agency continued enforcement operations across the region - recently showing up at MacArthur Park in central Los Angeles and at two California cannabis farms.
