Newsom wants 2K redeployed National Guard troops to return to fire control, narcotics suppression
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday reacted after the Pentagon said it is ending the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops in Los Angeles, saying he would like the troops to return to their previous duties including wildfire control and the suppression of illegal narcotics trafficking.
The 2,000 troops accounted for nearly half of the soldiers sent to the city to deal with protests over the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
Roughly 4,000 National Guard soldiers and 700 Marines have been in the city since early June. It wasn't immediately clear what prompted the 60-day deployment to end suddenly, nor was it immediately clear how long the rest of the troops would stay in the region.
At a Wednesday afternoon news conference, Newsom criticized the Trump administration for federalizing California National Guard troops and deploying the Marines in L.A.
The governor said that while the National Guard troops were protecting federal facilities, they were taken away from other essential duties they typically perform. Newsom said it will take two weeks to get the National Guard troops assigned to other areas of the state.
Once they are back in his control, the governor said, the troops will be returning to do the work of protecting the state from a number of threats.
I want to get them back under my control so we can get them back to doing the work to control wildfires, to keep our communities safe, to address the issue of counter-narcotics, the issue of fentanyl," Newsom said. "I want to remind you guys I put 394 of your National Guardsmen and women years and years ago on the border. I've hardly been timid. I've deployed the National Guard in multiple locations, multiple times. "
He said it would be difficult to calculate the affects that the federal immigration raids have had on the state's economy. His office released a statement predicting that the California economy and tax revenue could lose about $300 billion.
The end of the deployment in L.A. comes a week after federal authorities and National Guard troops arrived at MacArthur Park with guns and horses in an operation that ended abruptly. Although the U.S. Department of Homeland Security wouldn't explain the purpose of the operation or whether anyone had been arrested, local officials said it seemed designed to sow fear.
"Thanks to our troops who stepped up to answer the call, the lawlessness in Los Angeles is subsiding," Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement in announcing the decision.
On June 8, thousands of protesters took to the streets in response to Trump's deployment of the Guard, blocking off a major freeway as law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets and flash bangs to control the crowd. Photos captured several Waymo robotaxis set on fire.
A day later, police officers used flash bangs and shot projectiles as they pushed protesters through Little Tokyo, where bystanders and restaurant workers rushed to get out of their way.
Mayor Karen Bass set a curfew in place for about a week that she said had successfully protected businesses and helped restore order. Demonstrations in the city and the region in recent weeks have been largely small impromptu protests around arrests.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
