700 Marines to withdraw from L.A., Pentagon says

The roughly 700 active-duty Marines who deployed to Los Angeles earlier this summer following protests against immigration policies will head home, the Pentagon said Monday. 

“With stability returning to Los Angeles, the Secretary [of Defense] has directed the redeployment of the 700 Marines whose presence sent a clear message: lawlessness will not be tolerated,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement. 

CNN was first to report the Marines were being sent home. 

The 700 Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division arrived in the L.A. area in June joining members of the California National Guard President Trump federalized to protect federal property and personnel in the wake of protests and at times, violent clashes between protesters and law enforcement.  

The deployment of active-duty troops to city streets within the United States is rare, as is federalizing a state’s National Guard despite objections from the state’s governor. California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, said the military presence was not necessary to respond to protests and could inflame the situation. Newsom sued over the National Guard deployment, arguing that Mr. Trump had “unlawfully bypassed” Newsom by sending in federal troops. 

When asked what the bar is that determines whether to deploy active-duty Marines, President Trump told reporters in early June, “The bar is what I think it is. I mean, if we see danger to our country and to our citizens, uh, we’ll be very, very strong in terms of law and order.”

Last week, the Pentagon released about 2,000 of the 4,000 members of the National Guard in L.A. With the Marines headed home, there are still about 2,000 guardsmen in the L.A. area to protect federal property and personnel as they conduct law enforcement. 

The immigration protests largely dissipated since June, although the ICE raids have continued.