National guard in Los Angeles: tear gas and protests against Trump!

National guard in Los Angeles: tear gas and protests against Trump!

Los Angeles, Kalifornien, USA - The use of the National Guard in Los Angeles started today. As Südkurier already occurred to the first violent arguments between soldiers and demonstrators near a federal prison. Soldiers and police forces use tear gas, smoke grenades and pepper spray to push the protesters back after bottles and stones were thrown on security forces.

The US President Donald Trump ordered the mobilization of at least 2,000 national guards to curb in Los Angeles, a step that takes place against the will of the California governor Gavin Newsom and the Mayor Karen Bass. Both had spoken out against militarization and argued that the local security forces are sufficient to cope with the situation. Newsom and bass also asked the demonstrators to protect peaceful protests.

background of the protests

The protests against the US immigration authority ICE started on Friday after dozens of migrants were arrested without valid papers. Poured demonstrators persecuted convoys of ICE vehicles and there were direct attacks on civil servants. According to Tagesschau , about 1,000 people were involved in these riots, in which the police were forced to dissolve the rally.

The police used tear gas and rubber bullets during the protests, while demonstrators threw stones and eggs on the security forces. Numerous arrests took place during the clashes. The Ministry of Homeland Protection Department described the ICE missions as "normal deportations", which was presented by Trump's deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller as part of a fight against a "violent uprising". Trump criticized the demonstrators sharply and called her "violent, insurgent muten" on his platform Truth Social.

political tensions

The conflict over the use of the national guard shows the tense relationships between Trump and Newsom. While Trump had previously criticized the governor and described him as a "Newscum", Newsoma warned that the use of the National Guard could lead to an escalation of the situation. The governor appealed to the population to protest peacefully and to minimize the risk of further violent clashes, which also supported the US Senator Adam Schiff, who described the situation as "unprecedented".

The use of the National Guard in Los Angeles is expected to last for 60 days or as long as necessary. Defense Minister Pete Hegseth indicated that naval inventors could also be mobilized. Zeit emphasizes that the powers of the national gardists are limited, which further heated up the discussion about possible abuse of power and the legality of their commitment.