By Brad Brooks
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -About 50 U.S. Marines squared off against hundreds of protesters in front of a federal building in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, with the crowd yelling in unison for them to go home.
The Marines had been sent to the city by U.S. President Donald Trump along with federalized members of the California National Guard earlier this week over the objections of the state governor and the city’s mayor, as anger over immigration raids drew thousands of demonstrators into the streets.
Jesus Arias, a Los Angeles-based attorney, was at the front of the crowd with a bullhorn, working to convince the Marines to abandon their post.
“We are not your enemy, we are the people!” Arias said into the bullhorn as the Marines looked on. “You are breaking the oaths you took to be Marines. Wake up! Wake up!”
California Governor Gavin Newsom and local leaders have called Trump’s move an inflammatory provocation for the protests over the past week – demonstrations that the local sheriff on Friday said were 99% peaceful, with a only a handful of people engaged in violence and vandalism.
Trump summoned 700 Marines from California who were trained to help in the L.A. mission, including de-escalation and crowd control.
The deployment sparked a debate about the use of the military on U.S. soil given Marines are trained for conflicts around the world rather than at home, but the Trump administration has defended its move by citing the need to maintain law and order. Trump, who is carrying out a campaign promise to deport illegal immigrants, has argued that Los Angeles would have burned down if he had not acted quickly.
The Marines were armed with M4 rifles and wore face shields and the same shin guards used by baseball catchers. They stood guard at the top of steps leading to the entrance of the Roybal federal building, which houses immigration offices and where ICE has held some undocumented detainees. The building has been a flashpoint for protesters all week.
Just down the steps about 15 feet away, hundreds of protesters confronted the Marines, yelling in unison “Marines go home!” and “Shame! Shame!”
Several protesters hurled insults and invectives at the Marines, who did not react. Some in the crowd were telling them to take a knee or to join their demonstration. As of 4 p.m., there had been no physical altercation between the protesters and Marines.
Kai Ly, a 45-year-old a Los Angeles resident, was in the crowd.
“This is such a sad moment in time for the U.S.,” Ly said. “It’s sad to see that we’re so divided that we have Marines heading off against protesters.”
Antoinette Gutierrez, 36, was another Los Angeles resident protesting before the Marines.
“It’s disgusting to have the military, to have the Marines, turned against citizens,” she said. “It makes me embarrassed to be American.”
(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Los Angeles; Editing by Mary Milliken and Deepa Babington)
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