'Deeply troubling trend': Alarm sounded that America is 'no longer a stable country'

During the June 7-8 weekend, major media outlets in the United States shifted their focus from what had been their biggest story a few days earlier — President Donald Trump's bitter feud with Tesla/SpaceX leader Elon Musk — to the tensions in Downtown Los Angeles, which has been rocked by large protests in response to immigration raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

Trump, according to California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, crossed a dangerous line when he ordered 2000 California National Guardian troops to the area. And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is threatening to deploy 500 active-duty U.S. Marines.

California National Guard troops, Trump's critics say, shouldn't be ordered in response to the protests by anyone but Newsom — and only if the California government decides it is necessary.

READ MORE: Trump's latest move is a danger to all of us

One of Trump's critics on the right is conservative New York Times columnist David French.

In his June 8 column, French points to the unrest in L.A. as an example of how dangerously unstable the United States has become.

"It's hard to avoid the conclusion that the Trump Administration is spoiling for a fight on America's streets," the Never Trump conservative warns. "On Saturday, (June 7),after a protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests degenerated into violence, the administration reacted as if the country were on the brink of war. The violence was unacceptable. Civil disobedience is honorable; violence is beyond the pale. But so far, thankfully, the violence has been localized and, crucially, well within the capacity of state and city officials to manage."

French notes that Newsom described Trump's actions as a "serious breach of state sovereignty" and that California "possesses immense resources to deal with urban unrest."

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"If the (Trump) Administration, in its sole discretion, believes that this first, limited deployment is insufficient, then it will escalate," French warns. "It will shout 'Insurrection!' and 'Migrant invasion!' to justify more military control and perhaps the invocation of the Insurrection Act. As I wrote before, the Insurrection Act’s dangerously broad language gives the president all the legal authority he needs to put tens of thousands of troops in the nation’s streets…. It’s too early to declare a constitutional crisis, and in any case, debating the label we attach to any new event can distract us from focusing fully on the event itself."

French continues, "But each new day brings us fresh evidence of a deeply troubling trend: America is no longer a stable country, and it is growing less stable by the day."

READ MORE: 'Not heading anywhere good': NYT reporter sounds alarm on Trump's military move in LA

David French's full New York Times column is available at this link (subscription required).