TheLos AngelesDistrict Attorney has said the county does not need the national guard and the marines, saying there are “more than enough” local police to deal with rioting.
Nathan J. Hochman said: “We in Los Angeles county have tens of thousands of police officers, whether they are with the LA police department, the LA sherriff’s department, or there are 45 other law enforcement agencies in LA county.
“We have more than enough law enforcement officers to deal with the civil unrest thats occurred so far”, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.
“It doesn’t mean that the federal government can’t protect federal facilities with either the national guard or, if they choose, additional soldiers - that’s their choice.
“But as far as the civil unrest in LA, that is something that, though obviously very significant, it is something we are taking extremely seriously and we are able to deal with.
“We do not need the additional forces that the national guard and the marines present”, he added. “Unless the civil unrest gets farther out of control - and that could happen - we are not at the point where local law enforcement is beyond its means to deal with the situation.”
Good morning,Donald Trumphas deployed more National Guard troops and marines to Los Angeles as protests in the city go into their fourth day. Here is what has happened overnight:
California said the deployment of the National Guard by Republican President Trump’s administration was illegal and violated the state’s sovereignty and federal law, according to a court filing of its lawsuit against the US government.
The US military is to temporarily deploy about 700 Marines to LA until more National Guard troops can arrive, marking another escalation in Trump’s response to street protests over his aggressive immigration policies. Marines were expected to reach Los Angeles on Monday night (LA time) or Tuesday morning.
Even as protests against raids by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stretched into a fourth day Monday in LA, city workers began a cleanup of graffiti and other weekend damage across the city.
TheTrump administrationvowed to intensify migrant raids, with US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pledging to carry out even more operations to round up suspected immigration violators, extending a crackdown that provoked the protests.