Hundreds of U.S. Marines stationed at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms are being mobilized to Los Angeles, according to CNN.
Described as a “significant escalation” by CNN, it’s being reported that between 500 and 700 Marines are being activated to respond to the Los Angeles area after anti-ICE protests grew violent Sunday night.
Citing three sources with information on the matter, CNN reports that the hundreds of Marines are being mobilized to help federal agents in Los Angeles.
CNN Pentagon correspondent Natasha Bertrand described the move as a “significant escalation of the president’s use of the military as a show of force against these protesters.”
Bertrand said it’s unclear what role the Marines will serve when they arrive in L.A.
“The rules of engagement, we are told, are still being finalized. The Department of Defense lawyers are looking at the kind of rules of engagement these Marines will have as they encounter protesters possibly on the streets of Los Angeles,” Bertrand said.
The decision to deploy Marines to L.A. comes as city and state leaders have repeatedly pushed back on the federal government exerting force and assuming administrative control over military operations in the city without consulting them.
Both California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have called the deployment of the National Guard into the city as an unnecessary escalation and an act of political theater.
Bass held a press conference Sunday night in which she blamed Trump for needlessly increasing tensions in the city, as demonstrators took to the street to protest immigration enforcement operations taking place at various locations in Los Angeles.
“What we’re seeing in Los Angeles is chaos that is provoked by the administration,” Bass said in the Sunday press conference. “This is about another agenda, this isn’t about public safety.”
On Monday, Newsom’s Office filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration seeking the return of command for the California National Guard back to the governor.
Also on Monday, Trump voiced his support for the California governor to be arrested, although on what charges were not immediately clear.
“I think his primary crime is running for governor, because he’s done such a bad job,” Trump told reporters Monday afternoon in Washington, D.C.
KTLA is currently working to independently verify this report.