On Monday, President Donald Trump announced he was deploying 700 U.S. Marines to Los Angeles to quell protests that have erupted in California's largest city. Now, the city's police chief is calling the deployment unnecessary.
ABC News reported Monday evening that Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Chief Jim McDonnell issued a statement responding to the deployment of the U.S. military in his jurisdiction, in which he criticized – albeit delicately – the president's decision. He also insinuated that he was not consulted about the deployment prior to hearing about it secondhand.
"The LAPD has not received any formal notification that the Marines will be arriving in Los Angeles. However, the possible arrival of federal military forces in Los Angeles — absent clear coordination — presents a significant logistical and operational challenge for those of us charged with safeguarding this city," McDonnell stated. "The Los Angeles Police Department, alongside our mutual aid partners, have decades of experience managing large-scale public demonstrations, and we remain confident in our ability to do so professionally and effectively."
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"That said, our top priority is the safety of both the public and the officers on the ground," he continued. "We are urging open and continuous lines of communication between all agencies to prevent confusion, avoid escalation, and ensure a coordinated, lawful, and orderly response during this critical time."
McDonnell's statement comes on the heels of a former federal law enforcement official also criticizing the administration's response to the protests. On Monday, Jason Houser, who was the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) chief of staff during former President Joe Biden's administration, argued Trump's "racist policies" were needlessly diverting federal agents from necessary investigations in order to achieve higher arrest quotas.
""They're prioritizing those arrests over carrying out not only ICE operations that protect us from national security and public safety threats, but ... dismantling investigations, and the joint terrorism task forces, and drug interdiction agencies and collaboration of law enforcement from state and local law enforcement with the federal agencies," Houser told MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace. "We are less safe when we have these sort of activities."
According to the Los Angeles Times, the protests escalated after the LAPD fired tear gas and non-lethal rounds at largely peaceful protesters in the wake of several ICE immigration raids in the city. Trump then deployed California National Guard troops despite Governor Gavin Newsom (D) not officially requesting federal intervention — the first time since 1965 a president has circumvented a governor in deploying the National Guard.
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Click here to read ABC's full report.