LOS ANGELES, United States: Armed Marines arrived on the streets of Los Angeles Friday, part of a large deployment of troops ordered by Donald Trump that has raised the stakes between the US president and opponents criticizing him of growing authoritarianism.<\/p>\n
Men in fatigues and carrying semiautomatic rifles were seen around a federal building, where passersby questioned why they were in an area 18 kilometers from the protests against immigration raids.<\/p>\n
\u201cTaxpayer dollars could be used for other things,\u201d RonNell Weaver said. \u201cIs this really necessary?\u201d<\/p>\n
AFP witnessed Marines temporarily detaining one man at the federal building before they handed him over to law enforcement.<\/p>\n
The US military would not say why he was detained, despite multiple requests, but the incident appeared to be a minor \u2013 albeit extremely rare \u2013 example of federal troops detaining a US civilian.<\/p>\n
Seven hundred Marines \u2013 normally used as crack troops in foreign conflicts \u2013 along with 4,000 National Guard soldiers are tasked with protecting federal buildings, while local police handle protests over Trump\u2019s sweeps for undocumented migrants.<\/p>\n
An intense legal battle is underway over Trump\u2019s authority to deploy troops on US soil as the country braces for widespread protests Saturday, when the Republican will be overseeing a rare large-scale military parade in Washington.<\/p>\n
The parade celebrates the 250th anniversary of the US Army but also coincides with Trump\u2019s 79th birthday, and will be the first time tanks and other heavy weaponry have rolled through the capital city in three decades.<\/p>\n
In response, a \u201cNo Kings\u201d movement has sprung up promising to stage protests in more than 2,000 places across the country, including a large demonstration expected in Los Angeles, which organizers say will feature a \u201c20-foot-tall balloon of Trump wearing a diaper.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnprecedented\u201d crowds could attend, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell told reporters Friday.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, whose deputies are part of a large law enforcement response in the enormous city, urged protesters to behave properly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a good cause, but we do not want violent agitators out there destroying property or committing acts of violence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mayor Karen Bass said demonstrations are expected to be \u201ceven larger because of what has happened in our city.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do call on people over the weekend to demonstrate peacefully, to exercise your first amendment right, to not play into the hands where it could be used as a pretext to roll out troops in our city,\u201d she said in a news conference.<\/p>\n
In a show of political force, Trump overrode the objections of Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom to deploy California\u2019s National Guard.<\/p>\n
The president has repeatedly exaggerated the scale of violence, claiming that without troops, Los Angeles would be \u201cburning to the ground right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Thursday, District Judge Charles Breyer ruled Trump\u2019s actions were \u201cillegal\u201d and ordered that he return control of the guard to Newsom. Breyer said the LA unrest fell \u201cfar short\u201d of the \u201crebellion\u201d Trump had described.<\/p>\n
However, a higher court quickly paused the order pending an appeal hearing with the Trump administration next Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The Department of Justice slammed Breyer\u2019s ruling as \u201can extraordinary intrusion on the President\u2019s constitutional authority as Commander in Chief.\u201d<\/p>\n
The dispute mirrors multiple other tussles over Trump\u2019s attempts to expand the limits of presidential power \u2013 but is the first to involve troops.<\/p>\n
Many in Los Angeles are angry about immigration raids carried out as part of Trump\u2019s ambition to deport vast numbers of undocumented migrants from the country.<\/p>\n
About 100 mostly good-natured protesters gathered Friday evening outside the federal detention center in Los Angeles that has been at the heart of the rallies, ahead of a nightly curfew placed on the downtown area by the mayor.<\/p>\n
In a sign of how contained the demonstrations have been, however, those attending a performance of \u201cHamlet\u201d \u2013 Shakespeare\u2019s play about a mad prince \u2013 and other shows at nearby venues were exempt from the curfew.<\/p>\n
Outrage at Trump\u2019s raids and the use of masked, armed immigration agents backed by uniformed soldiers have also sparked protests in other cities, including San Francisco, New York, Chicago and San Antonio, Texas.<\/p>\n
Tensions hiked further Thursday when California Senator Alex Padilla, a Democrat, was handcuffed and forcibly removed from a news conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LOS ANGELES, United States: Armed Marines arrived on the streets of Los Angeles Friday, part of a large deployment of troops ordered by Donald Trump that has raised the stakes between the US president and opponents criticizing him of growing authoritarianism. Men in fatigues and carrying semiautomatic rifles were seen around a federal building, where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484185,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-484174","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n