Marine

Oct. 18 (UPI) — The U.S. Marine Corps‘ live-fire event at Camp Pendleton as part of its 250th birthday celebration will cause the closure of Interstate 5 for four hours on Saturday.

The closure is a precaution due to the firing of explosive artillery rounds over the freeway from gunnery ranges at Camp Pendleton in Southern California, which has drawn the ire of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Newsom accused President Donald Trump of “putting his ego over responsibility with this disregard for public safety” in a prepared statement released on Saturday morning.

“Firing live rounds over a busy highway isn’t just wrong — it’s dangerous,” Newsom said.

“Using our military to intimidate people you disagree with isn’t strength,” he added. “It’s reckless. It’s disrespectful, and it’s beneath the office he holds.”

Trump will not attend the celebratory event, but Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are scheduled to attend, with the live-fire scheduled at 1:30 p.m. local time.

Marine Corps officials initially said there would be no need to close the freeway and only asked that signs be posted warning drivers of the live-fire event and to expect to hear explosions.

California Highway Patrol officials instead announced the freeway would be closed while the event is in progress, according to KTLA-TV.

Due to safety concerns, a section of Interstate 5 will be closed Saturday due to a White House-directed military event at Camp Pendleton involving live ammunition being discharged over the freeway,” Caltrans officials said in a statement on Saturday morning.

“Drivers should expect delays on Interstate 5 and other state routes throughout Southern California before, during and after the event.”

The closure starts at 11 a.m. PDT for the 17-mile stretch of freeway running from Basilone Road near San Onofre in the north to Harbor Drive in Oceanside to the south and reopens at 3 p.m.

The event will include a demonstration of Navy and Marine Corps operations on land, sea and in the air.

Camp Pendleton is located about 40 miles north of San Diego and east of I-5, which runs along the Pacific Coast.

Caltrans officials advise motorists in Los Angeles County to use state routes in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties to bypass the closed section of freeway.

Several local train routes also will be closed during the live-fire event.

Netflix drama military drama Boots is based on the true story of gay Marine Greg Cope White

Boots, a military drama on Netflix, follows the journey of gay teenager Cameron Cope (portrayed by Miles Heizer) as he enlists in the Marines corps alongside his best mate, despite the inherent dangers.

The series is set in the harsh environment of the 1990s US Marine Corps, a time when homosexuality was still outlawed in the military. It traces the lives of Cameron and Ray McAffey (played by Liam Oh), the offspring of a decorated Marine, as they become part of a diverse group of recruits.

Together, they form unexpected friendships and discover their true identities while being pushed to their limits.

Netflix commented: “With sharp wit and plenty of heart, Boots is about friendship, resilience, and finding your place in the world – even when that world seems determined to keep you in line or leave you behind.”

Greg Cope White, a former sergeant in the US Marine Corps, served as a writer and executive producer for the series.

READ MORE: Netflix fans urged to watch chart-topping film hailed ‘a modern Cinderella’READ MORE: Who is in the cast of Boots on Netflix?

He is an ardent advocate for LGBTQ+ and veteran rights, and has appeared in the PBS docuseries American Veteran and published work in the military journal Zero Dark Thirty.

Reflecting on his journey from his days in the Marine Corps, he posted on Instagram: “At 18, I illegally enlisted in the Marine Corps to find my place as a gay man in the masculine world.

“The book honours my lifelong best friend Dale, who got me through a chaotic childhood, and the Marines who took a chance on me and changed my life.

“And to send a message to others who are bullied: Bullies don’t matter. You do. Hold on.”

Greg completed six years of service with the Marines, achieving the rank of Sergeant, before relocating to New York City to pursue studies in acting and writing.

He eventually settled in Los Angeles, where he secured his breakthrough in writing through employment with Norman Lear.

The Pink Marine website details how joining the Marines represented Greg’s initial struggle, as he “has to cheat to pass the physical and then lie on the enlistment papers about his sexuality”.

The protagonists Cameron and Ray draw inspiration from Greg and his closest mate Dale, with the website outlining the dangers they both faced.

It states: “It’s insanely dangerous for both of them. But as fate would have it, the Few and the Proud turn out to be a bunch of oddballs and eccentrics – and a brotherhood is born.”

Boots is available on Netflix.

Oct. 7 (UPI) — A shuttered Canadian amusement park said that without an infusion of cash it will have to euthanize 30 beluga whales after a government official blocked it from sending the marine mammals to a Chinese theme park.

Marineland, the aquatic theme park located in Niagara Falls, Ontario, laid out the dire situation in a letter Friday to Canadian Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson, The New York Times reported.

Thompson announced days earlier that she denied Marineland’s request to export the belugas to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom theme park in China because it “would have meant a continued life in captivity and a return to public entertainment.”

She further said that she was following requirements of the Fisheries Act meant to prevent the exploitation of marine mammals.

“Like many of you, I am angered that these whales have lived a life of captivity and as a result their health has deteriorated,” Thompson said. “As Canadians, we know that whales belong in the ocean, not in tanks for our amusement.”

Thompson told CBC News that she had visited the closed Marineland facility and concluded the whales belong in the ocean after she “looked the belugas in the eyes.”

Marineland’s business model struggled after a federal law passed in 2019 that banned keeping whales, dolphins and porpoises for breeding or amusement, according to the CBC.

The theme park said there is no suitable ocean “sanctuary” or facility for the whales. Meanwhile, Marineland said its financial situation continues to crumble, leaving it unable to meet the whales’ costly care.

However, Thompson told Marineland in a letter sent Monday that there would be no bailout, The Canadian Press reported.

“The fact that Marineland has not planned for a viable alternative despite raising these whales in captivity for many years, does not place the onus on the Canadian government to cover your expenses,” Thompson wrote.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford told The Canadian Press that the federal government should rethink its position.

“It should be the federal government that allows them to move (the belugas) to China or other marine areas that will take them, but saying no to everything and not coming up with a solution is not a great suggestion,” Ford said.

A dozen groups including the Toronto Zoo, World Animal Protection and Animal Justice wrote to Ford urging the provincial government to seize the animals.

Paddling through the inky blue water in Stockholm’s outer archipelago, all I can see is scattered islands and birds. Some of the islands are mere skerries – rocky outcrops and reefs so small they can host but a single cormorant drying its outstretched wings – while others, such as our target Bullerön, can be a mile or more in length, with historic fishing huts, summer cottages and wooden jetties sitting among their smoothly weathered rocks and windswept forests.

I’m on a two-day sea kayaking tour of Nämdöskärgården, a newly established marine national park, which is a vast 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres) of protected, mostly blue space – it is 97% covered by water – beginning on the outer reaches of the archipelago and stretching well into the Baltic Sea.

It is Sweden’s second marine national park, alongside Kosterhavet on the west coast, and its creation was approved by Swedish parliament in June this year, a summer in which the country also banned bottom trawling – the destructive fishing practice that Sir David Attenborough has likened to “bulldozing a rainforest” – from its marine national parks and nature reserves by July 2026. It’s the first European country to do so (the UK appears to have rejected whole-site bans in more marine protected areas, despite its earlier pledge to extend these – much to the dismay of conservationists).

One of the challenges in getting people to care about ocean conservation is that it’s hard to engage with what we can’t see or experience directly, and the idea behind Nämdöskärgården is not just to preserve the area’s unique ecological diversity, but also to make it accessible to visitors in a low-impact way. Sea kayaking – a popular pastime for Swedes throughout the archipelago – is the perfect way to do that.

My guide Johan Montelius, from Stockholm Adventures, and I get dropped off by taxi boat on Jungfruskär, which, like many isles in the outer archipelago, is uninhabited. We haul our narrow yellow sea kayaks up on to rocks splattered with grey, green and bright orange lichen, and after a quick safety briefing, Johan shows me our route to Idöborg, an island just outside the marine national park, where we’ll spend the night. It’s a journey of around 5 miles, but he assures me the wind will help push us along in parts and we’ll make plenty of stops along the way.

We set off, and after a tricky first 50 metres of paddling into the wind, find ourselves nicely sheltered between two long islands. We settle into an easy, slow rhythm – perfect for tuning into the surrounding natural wonder. There is plenty of birdlife, mostly cormorants, gulls, herons and geese, but we also spot at least five different white-tailed eagles over the two-day trip, as well as a pine marten and a seal. The thing that excites me most, though, is the seaweed, which comes in a host of shades, even the russet colour of autumn leaves. It’s a sign of healthy waters, with the seaweed providing a great nursery for young fish as well as a vital carbon sink – something that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases.

We paddle over wonderful seagrass meadows, which glisten when the sun breaks through the clouds, and extensive belts of bladder wrack, or blåstång, a dark green seaweed with air pockets. Because the water is so clear, I can see it is also home to lots of periwinkles and other shellfish.

We see no other boats or kayaks, partly because it’s a slightly wet and windy day in September – sunny days in July and August are a lot busier, Johan says – but also because with kayaks we can navigate narrow passages between islands that sail boats and other watercraft can’t. At times, we paddle through fields of high reeds, our route no more than the width of a footpath.

We stop for lunch on another deserted island, feasting on a delicious fish stew made by Johan the night before. Mindful of leaving no trace in an archipelago where I’ve not seen a speck of single-use plastic all day, we check the spot for litter meticulously before we head off.

The islands are beautiful, but they all look the same to me, so I’ve no idea how Johan is navigating so effectively – he only uses the GPS on his phone once, to check our final crossing to Idöborg as the wind picks up. We stash our kayaks in a sheltered sandy bay on the island and check into our cosy forest cabins, which have full A-frame views of the increasingly agitated ocean. Stockholm Adventures offers wild camping when the weather allows, but tonight I’m glad of a roof over my head.

Idöborg is a private island with dense forest, a range of cabin options, and a restaurant that serves tasty, seasonal local food – the jerusalem artichoke soup with seagrass pesto is incredible. It also has a sauna facing the water, with a wooden jetty that invites dipping in the soft, brackish water in between the waves of heat.

When we enjoy it at dusk, the sea still has plenty of energy, but the next morning things are calmer. Our 2.5-mile paddle out to Bullerön, the main island of the Bullerö archipelago, and one of the last islands before the open sea, passes in an easy, meditative haze.

The sun comes out, and we visit the former cottage and studio of the influential Swedish nature painter Bruno Liljefors, which now serves as an information centre for Nämdöskärgården, and walk the island’s stunning circuitous footpath. From the highest point, looking out east to the expanse of the Baltic Sea, it feels good to know this stretch of glistening ocean and all that lies beneath it will be protected.

Over breakfast on Idöborg, I chat to Ylva Tenselius, a Stockholm resident and consultant here on a work team-building trip. When she was growing up, her grandfather used to go out and catch cod all the time. “We would groan and say, ‘No more cod,’ when it was served at the dinner table,” she says, adding that she used to catch perch easily herself with a line, but now both are far less common. She welcomes the new marine park and its conservation goals. “We’ve seen the changes and now it’s time to protect it.”

When I get home to the UK, I call Charles Clover, co-founder of Blue Marine Foundation, an ocean conservation charity, which is campaigning for bottom trawling to be banned from all UK marine protected areas, to ask what he thinks about Nämdöskärgården. “Anything that protects breeding grounds for fish is a positive step,” he says. “The sea is in such a bad state, particularly the Baltic Sea, so I think these protected areas will bring enormous benefits. They will help repair the sea and help nature help itself.”

And he believes low-impact tourism, such as sea kayaking and hiking, can help with that process. “It creates a different use of nature, which is to enjoy it rather than to exploit, and that can only be a good thing.” I couldn’t agree more.

This trip was provided by Visit Sweden. A two-day kayak tour of the Stockholm archipelago with Stockholm Adventures costs 10,490 kronor (£830) for a group of up to four; other itineraries available. Idöborg forest cabins sleep two, from 2,000 kronor (around £160) a night.

Sam Haddad writes the newsletter Climate & Board Sports

Four Marine League football coaches who had their teams forfeit games against Narbonne last season in protest of the City Section and Los Angeles Unified School District failing to investigate alleged rule violations in the Gauchos’ program are feeling a bit of vindication after a Narbonne booster said he paid parents of players to transfer to the Harbor City school.

They believe their actions were warranted to highlight the issues seen off the field in high school football despite receiving criticism from some. An LAUSD investigation eventually determined a group of Narbonne players were ineligible, and the City Section imposed a three-year playoff ban on Narbonne for rule violations.

Mike Christensen, the former Carson football coach, said he’s “sad” that the booster Brett Steigh has admitted involvement in the ongoing Bishop Montgomery football scandal that has resulted in the team’s season coming to an end. Steigh also helped finance St. Bernard’s football program, which shut down its team in 2021, 2022 and 2023 following the resignation of coach Manuel Douglas, a former Narbonne coach.

Christensen said coaches who participated in the forfeits last year faced repercussions from school district personnel, “but it needed to be done.”

“My relationship with my principal was never the same,” Christensen said.

Perhaps the coach under the most pressure was former Banning coach Raymond Grajeda, who was the first to forfeit his league game to Narbonne. Then the three others followed.

“We got punished hard from the district office,” Grajeda said. “It was one of the reasons for me quitting.”

He said all the rumors about money changing hands and school officials declining to investigate without evidence was motivation to the coaches as a unit to try to stop the rule violations.

“Everything was true,” Grajeda said. “We live in the community. Some of those deals that went down, they were in our backyard. If you’re going to do the transfer thing, do it right. I feel some sense of relief. The future of football in this area, we want to be competitive and fair.”

Former Gardena coach Monty Gilbreath said, “I think it turned out to be good because we were able to bring attention what was going on and caused the City Section to take a closer look. We knew as coaches it was a fact. We didn’t have the means to prove it.”

Christensen retired, Gilbreath resigned as did Grajeda, who now spends his time watching his freshman daughter play flag football for Banning.

Only San Pedro coach Corey Walsh kept coaching this season.

“I do not care at all,” Walsh said of the reaction to the booster accepting responsibility for the illegal payments. “We’re playing Great Oak this week. I was trying to see the bigger picture. I knew where this was headed if something didn’t change.”

Christensen said last January he was attending a coaches’ convention when several coaches came up to him and thanked him for taking a stand last fall.

“This has to stop,” he said.

Hundreds of residents gathered at a beach in Yokosuka city’s Kurihama area, south of Tokyo, over the weekend to pray for marine safety in a summer festival that fuses sacred ritual and seaside spectacle.

As a portable shrine called mikoshi, decorated with Shinto ornaments, was lifted onto bearers’ shoulders, the audience cheered.

The mikoshi had started from Sumiyoshi Shrine and was paraded through neighbourhood alleyways. Shrine priests paused to bless offerings and pray for good fortune for people gathered outside their homes.

When the procession reached the beach, the priests danced and chanted. The festival reached its climax when the bearers entered the water up to their necks, their sweaty faces splashed with seawater.

The procession made a final stop at the nearby ferry terminal, where the mikoshi was carried onto a vessel for prayers for its safe travels.

“Everyone has been looking forward to this day all year,” said Shuji Shimizu, head of the Kurihama Neighbourhood Association. “It’s a celebration of our own strength and unity. Please stay safe out there … and enjoy every moment.”

As evening fell, the mikoshi was carried back to storage at the shrine, until next summer.

June 12 (UPI) — A federal judge on Thursday might rule on whether or not the Trump administration lawfully deployed National Guard and Marine Corps troops to Los Angeles.

U.S. District Court for Northern California Judge Charles Breyer is hearing arguments for and against the federal government deploying troops to quell violence amid Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities in Los Angeles.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday sought the federal court’s intervention to stop the deployments and remove the troops from Los Angeles.

Breyer denied Newsom’s motion for a temporary restraining order and scheduled Thursday’s hearing regarding the governor’s motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the troop deployments.

More than 4,000 National Guardsmen and about 700 Marines have been deployed to Los Angeles to prevent violence while protecting federal buildings and ICE agents as they enforce unpopular and controversial federal immigration laws.

Newsom did not call up the National Guard and said the Trump administration did not ask him to do so.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Tuesday announced an ongoing curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. PDT in a downtown area that is bordered by interstates 5, 10 and 110.

The Los Angeles Police Department on Wednesday arrested 71 people for failure to disperse, seven for violating the curfew, two for assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon and one for resisting arrest.

Also on Thursday, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was removed from a late-morning news conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Padilla interrupted the news conference and demanded that Noem answer questions, but event security removed him.

Noem said Padilla’s interruption was “inappropriate” and said she would speak with him after concluding the news conference.

Meanwhile, protests continue with several scheduled in California and 28 in total in locales across the nation, NBC News reported.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Thursday announced he called up 5,000 National Guardsmen and deployed 2,000 Texas Public Safety troopers to maintain peace and arrest those engaged in criminal acts as anti-ICE protests are expected to continue at least through the weekend.

“Anyone engaging in acts of violence or damaging property will be arrested and held accountable to the full extent of the law,” Abbott said in a news release.

“Don’t mess with Texas — and don’t mess with Texas law enforcement,” he added.

California on Tuesday asked a federal court for a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration’s deployment of both state National Guard forces and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles amid mass protests over sweeping federal immigration enforcement efforts.

The request was filed in the same federal lawsuit the state and California Gov. Gavin Newsom filed Monday, in which they alleged Trump had exceeded his authority and violated the U.S. Constitution by sending military forces into an American city without the request or approval of the state governor or local officials.

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, whose office is handling the litigation on behalf of both Newsom and the state, said the restraining order was necessary to bring an immediate stop to the deployments, which local officials have contended are not needed and only adding to tensions sparked by sweeping immigration detentions and arrests in communities with large immigrant communities.

“The President is looking for any pretense to place military forces on American streets to intimidate and quiet those who disagree with him,” Bonta said in a statement Tuesday. “It’s not just immoral — it’s illegal and dangerous.”

Newsom, in his own statement, echoed Bonta, saying the federal government “is now turning the military against American citizens.”

“Sending trained warfighters onto the streets is unprecedented and threatens the very core of our democracy,” Newsom said. “Donald Trump is behaving like a tyrant, not a President.”

The state’s request Tuesday asked for the restraining order to be granted by 1 p.m. Tuesday “to prevent immediate and irreparable harm” to the state.

Absent such relief, the Trump administration’s “use of the military and the federalized National Guard to patrol communities or otherwise engage in general law enforcement activities creates imminent harm to State Sovereignty, deprives the State of vital resources, escalates tensions and promotes (rather than quells) civil unrest,” the state contended.

The request specifically notes that the use of military forces such as Marines to conduct domestic policing tasks is unlawful, and that Trump administration officials have stated that is how the Marines being deployed to Los Angeles may be used.

“The Marine Corps’ deployment for law enforcement purposes is likewise unlawful. For more than a century, the Posse Comitatus Act has expressly prohibited the use of the active duty armed forces and federalized national guard for civilian law enforcement,” the state’s request states. “And the President and Secretary Hegseth have made clear — publicly and privately — that the Marines are not in Los Angeles to stand outside a federal building.”

At Trump’s direction, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth mobilized nearly 2,000 members of the state’s National Guard on Saturday after Trump said L.A. was descending into chaos and federal agents were in danger, then mobilized another 2,000 members on Monday. The Pentagon approved the deployment of 700 U.S. Marines from the base in Twentynine Palms to the city Monday, with the stated mission of protecting federal buildings and agents.

Hegseth said the deployments would last 60 days, and the acting Pentagon budget chief said the cost would be at least $134 million. He told members of the House appropriations defense subcommittee that the length of the deployments was intended to “ensure that those rioters, looters and thugs on the other side assaulting our police officers know that we’re not going anywhere.”

Local officials have decried acts of violence, property damage and burglaries that have occurred in tandem with the protests, but have also said that Trump administration officials have blown the problems out of proportion and that there is no need for federal forces in the city.

Constitutional scholars and some members of Congress have also questioned the domestic deployment of military forces, especially without the buy-in of local and state officials — calling it a tactic of dictators and authoritarian regimes.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass questioned what Marines would do on the ground, while Police Chief Jim McDonnell said the arrival of military forces in the city without “clear coordination” with local law enforcement “presents a significant logistical and operational challenge for those of us tasked with safeguarding this city.”

Bonta had said Monday that the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution limits federal power around such deployments, that the deployment of National Guard forces to quell protests without Newsom’s consent was “unlawful” and “unprecedented,” and that the deployment of Marines would be “similarly unlawful.”

On Tuesday, he said the state was asking the court to “immediately block the Trump Administration from ordering the military or federalized national guard from patrolling our communities or otherwise engaging in general law enforcement activities beyond federal property.”

United States President Donald Trump has ordered the deployment of Marines in Los Angeles to quell protests that have erupted against the arrests of 44 people on Friday for violating immigration laws.

Trump on Monday also doubled the strength of National Guard forces that his administration has deployed in the country’s second largest city to 4,000 soldiers.

His administration has justified the deployments by arguing, in part, that local authorities were failing to ensure the safety of law enforcement officials and federal property.

But the deployment of the Marines – coming on the back of the move to send the National Guard to Los Angeles – has sparked criticism, not just from Trump’s political opponents like California Governor Gavin Newsom but also from the Los Angeles police.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has said the deployment of Marines will make its job harder. Here’s what the dispute is about, and why the LAPD argues that the deployment of military forces could complicate its work:

What are the US Marines?

The Marines are a branch of the US armed forces and are a component of the Navy. The Marine Corps was first established in 1775.

Its soldiers are trained for land and sea operations and have a particular focus on amphibious warfare, which refers to attacks launched from ships onto shore.

US citizens or legal residents who have a high school diploma and are aged 17 to 28 are eligible to enlist for the Marines. They have to undergo an initial strength test to be recruited. Recruits undergo about 13 weeks of initial training to become a part of the Marine Corps. Once a year, each Marine undergoes a battle-readiness test with a focus on physical readiness and stamina.

There are 172,577 active duty Marine personnel in the US as well as 33,036 reserve personnel as of 2023, the latest data released by the US Department of Defense.

What is the Marine deployment?

The US military’s Northern Command released a statement on Monday saying it had activated a Marine infantry battalion in Los Angeles that was on alert over the weekend. About 700 Marines with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines and 1st Marine Division will “seamlessly integrate” with National Guard troops deployed in the city, it said.

Initially, the LAPD was involved in quelling civil unrest due to the protests, starting on Friday. On Saturday, Trump deployed about 2,000 National Guard soldiers to Los Angeles County, defying objections by Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

After the Marine deployment announcement, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said an “additional” 2,000 National Guard soldiers would also be mobilised in addition to the 2,000 who had been sent to the city over the weekend.

What did the LAPD say about the Marine deployment?

On Monday, Police Chief Jim McDonnell released a statement saying the LAPD had not received a formal notification that the Marines would be coming to LA.

“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,” he said.

McDonnell added that the LAPD and its partners “have decades of experience managing large-scale public demonstrations, and we remain confident in our ability to do so professionally and effectively”.

The LAPD boss urged open and continuous communication between all law enforcement agencies involved to avoid confusion and escalation.

What does the LAPD mean by this?

History indicates that a lack of communication, coupled with differences in approach based on different agencies’ training, can inflame already tense situations that law enforcement officials confront.

While the US routinely sends its Marines on overseas missions, it is rare for the US president to deploy Marines to quell a domestic crisis.

The last time this happened was in 1992 in Los Angeles during protests against the acquittal of four policemen who had been filmed beating Rodney King, a Black man. Six days of riots broke out, and 2,000 National Guard soldiers and 1,500 Marines were deployed in the city. The riots in 1992 resulted in the deaths of 63 people and widespread looting, assaults and arson, unlike the ongoing protests, which have been largely peaceful.

On one occasion in 1992, LAPD officers and Marines were called to respond to a domestic disturbance at a local home.

When they arrived, a shotgun was fired out the front door. A police officer yelled, “Cover me,” which to the police means to prepare to shoot if necessary but to hold one’s fire. For Marines trained for combat, “cover me” means to use firepower. The Marines shot more than 200 bullets instantly as a response to the officer. Three children were inside the home at the time. While no one was killed, federal soldiers were withdrawn from Los Angeles shortly after this.

While the deployment of US Marines to Los Angeles in 1992 was carried out in coordination with state and local authorities, they are now being sent against the wishes of the state government, Bass and the LAPD.

That compounds the risks that could follow, experts said.

“If the administration escalates to active duty troops, especially without coordination with state leaders, it would amount to a militarization of civilian protest, not a restoration of order,” attorney Robert Patillo said in a written statement to Al Jazeera. “That move could violate the First Amendment rights of peaceful protesters and would likely inflame tensions on the ground, not resolve them.” 

The First Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees the freedom of speech and assembly.

Is the Marine deployment necessary?

Reports from LA suggest that the National Guard troops who have been activated are barely being used in the city, raising questions about whether the deployment of Marines or additional National Guard soldiers is really necessary.

Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds, reporting from LA, said Monday’s protests organised by unions in the city centre were peaceful.

“[The National Guard] didn’t engage with the protesters. They didn’t do much of anything other than stand there in their military uniforms,” Reynolds said.

On his personal X account, Newsom posted that the initial 2,000 National Guard soldiers were not given food or water. Of them, only 300 were deployed while the rest were sitting in federal buildings without orders, he said. Al Jazeera could not independently verify this.

I was just informed Trump is deploying another 2,000 Guard troops to L.A.

The first 2,000? Given no food or water. Only approx. 300 are deployed — the rest are sitting, unused, in federal buildings without orders.

This isn’t about public safety. It’s about stroking a dangerous…

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 9, 2025

In another post, Newsom wrote that “the Secretary of Defense is illegally deploying [the Marines] onto American streets.”

U.S. Marines serve a valuable purpose for this country — defending democracy. They are not political pawns.

The Secretary of Defense is illegally deploying them onto American streets so Trump can have a talking point at his parade this weekend.

It’s a blatant abuse of power.…

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 10, 2025

On Monday, Newsom announced that he had filed a lawsuit against Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “to end the illegal takeover” of the National Guard. Trump’s federalisation of the National Guard on Saturday marked the first time in 60 years that a US president has activated the guard in defiance of a state governor’s wishes.

“For Trump to deploy regular armed forces, such as the marines, would require him to clear another legal hurdle. He would have to invoke the Insurrection Act, which is very rare and would escalate the situation to a constitutional crisis,” Gregory Magarian, professor of law at Washington University’s School of Law in St Louis, Missouri, told Al Jazeera in an emailed statement.

So far, it is unclear whether Trump invoked the Insurrection Act to deploy the Marines. To activate the National Guard, he did not invoke the Insurrection Act but a similar federal law, Title 10 of the United States Code.

“While the Insurrection Act technically gives the president the authority to deploy active-duty military forces under extreme conditions, we are nowhere near the legal threshold that would justify sending in the marines,” Patillo said.

What is the Trump administration saying?

Hegseth wrote in an X post that Marines had been deployed “due to increased threats to federal law enforcement officers and federal buildings”.

“We have an obligation to defend federal law enforcement officers – even if Gavin Newsom will not,” Hegseth wrote.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in an X post on Monday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, who have been leading the immigration arrests, will “continue to enforce the law” despite the protests.

What is the latest update on the LA immigration protests?

Over the weekend, the LAPD arrested 50 protesters: 29 on Saturday and 21 on Sunday.

Local news outlets have reported protests against the arrests have also begun in at least nine other US cities, including New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco.