(Washington) The Defense Department announced on Tuesday that it had ordered the withdrawal of approximately half of the 4,000 soldiers of the National Guard deployed in Los Angeles, more than a month after their deployment in the face of demonstrations against Donald Trump’s migration policy.
“Thanks to the reinforcement of our troops, chaos decreases in Los Angeles,” said Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, in a statement.
“Consequently, the secretary (Pete Hegseth) ordered 2,000 members of the California National Guard to be relieved of their federal protection mission,” he added.
President Donald Trump had requisitioned the National Guard in California in early June for the advice of the Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom for 60 days, saying that he wanted to restore order in Los Angeles after clashes.
Donald Trump also ordered the mobilization of 700 navies in reinforcement from the National Guard in order to face the protests, largely peaceful but some of which have degenerated, against arrests of immigrants by the Federal Immigration Police (ICE).
The situation has largely calmed down for almost a month in the second city in the country, where the night curfew was notably lifted on June 17.
In California, Democrats accused Donald Trump of “making a crisis”.
According to them, the incidents that occurred on the sidelines of the demonstrations – burnt down, trade looting and graffiti – were largely manageable by local forces, which ensured the maintenance of order in the demonstrations.
The soldiers were mainly used to protect federal buildings, and sometimes accompanied the immigration police to protect their agents during their descents.
PHOTO DAMIAN DOVARGANES, ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
The mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass
The mayor of Los Angeles Karen Bass, who had denounced an “armed occupation”, welcomed the “retirement” of the National Guard in a statement.
“This happened because the inhabitants of Los Angeles held out. We organized peaceful demonstrations, we found ourselves in rallies, we attacked the Trump administration in court, and all this led to the retirement today, “she said.
For his part, Governor Gavin Newsom called Donald Trump to “put an end to this masquerade and to return” the rest of the soldiers maintained on the spot.