The protests were peaceful during the day, but nighttime brought a different story with vandalizing and looting stores. The few give a bad name to the many. Over 100 people arrested. Mayor Bass was up early Tuesday to give a warning:
Pete Hegseth told the House Appropriations Committee's Defense Subcommittee that he estimates that military personnel will be in L.A. for 60 days. As Gov. Newson said yesterday that those already there did not have food or water or a place to sleep. Not exactly treating the troops well.
Estimates are that this is going to cost $134 million for the ordeal. Mayor Bass said to send them home and give LA the $134 million to help LA prepare for the FIFA cup next year.
The 700 Marines have arrived in L.A. according to U.S. Northern Command.
Trump said in an Oval Office Q&A that he would invoke the Insurrection Act if he saw an insurrection. He actually has to do that in order to send in the Marines as outlawed in the Posse Comitatus Act. So, besides breaking the law sending in the National Guard without Newsom's authorization, he's added a new crime. Trump said he talked to Newsom yesterday. Apparently, not:
Kristi Noem also committed a crime requesting the military to arrest people, specifically. She wrote in a memo to Hegseth, "Direction to DoD forces to either detain, just as they would at any federal facility guarded by military, lawbreakers under Title 18 until they can be arrested and processed by federal law enforcement, or arrest them." There is a section for the National Guard in Title 18, but it says nothing about them acting as law enforcement or detaining or arresting people. All there is, is a section on illegally entering military property. Kristi 0, the law 1.
Mayor Bass is mulling over imposing a curfew. She is meeting with the chief of the LAPD later today. She had already talked to the chief this morning about it.
Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke says that Trump's deployment of National Guard troops to L.A. has risen to an impeachment offense. If that is the case, the Marines being sent is doubly so.
Alberto Carvalho, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District says that school graduations are protected sites. The school district's police force has been directed to "establish perimeters of safety around graduation sites to interfere and intervene with any agency who may want to take action during these joyous times that we call graduation." Sounds like ICE, no dice.
Besides the California lawsuit against troops deployments, nonprofit watchdog American Oversight has filed their own against the Trump administration for failing to disclose records detailing military involvement in immigration enforcement. The defendants are the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The watchdog wants all communications and legal directives given. The legal directives would be especially interesting, because the group suspects there may not be any. Bad form.
In his lawsuit against Trump, Newsom accuses Trump of planning to use National Guard troops in immigration raids. Newsom and California AG Rob Bonta say the Guards power has been expanded by the DoD to include "arresting and detaining immigrants and others who may be suspected or accused of interfering with ICE --- a direct violation of the Constitution."
Kristi Noem made an outrageous accusation about President Sheinbaum of Mexico. "Claudia Sheinbaum came out and encouraged more protests in LA, and I condemn her for that. She should not be encouraging violent protests that are going on."
Sheinbaum replied, "I'm informing her that this is absolutely false. We have always been against [violent protests]. On the other hand, our position has been and will be the defense of honest, hard working Mexicans that help the US economy and their families in Mexico." Sounds like Kristi is batting complete zero today on truthfulness.
The best Donald Trump could do today, was to create a new conspiracy theory that pallets of bricks for construction projects were left nearby the protests so they could be hurled at police officers.
At his speech at Fort Bragg, Trump claimed that the protests against the ICE raids are being led by paid "rioters carrying foreign flags with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion." There you go. One step from calling in the Insurrection Act.
Again at Fort Bragg, Trump claimed that "In Los Angeles, the Governor of California, the Mayor of Los Angeles, they're incompetent and they paid troublemakers, agitators, and insurrectionists. They engaged in this willful attempt to nullify federal law, and aid the occupation of the city by criminal invaders." He's gone off the deep end. No connection with reality. He even told the troops to call the Governor, Newscum. He also called protesters "animals" and "a foreign enemy."
"What you are witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and national sovereignty carried out by riders bearing foreign flags with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion of our country. We're not going to let that happen. We will liberate Los Angeles and make it free, clean, and safe again. It's happening very quickly," Trump continued. "We just approved our largest budget for military operations. Our army has smashed foreign empires, humbled kings, toppled tyrants and hunted terrorist savages from the very gates of hell." Unhinged and devoid of reality. A bloodthirsty dictator that wants to unleash the power of the US military, not on foreign enemies, but on US citizens. He already had a dictatorship. Now, he wants a military dictatorship.
The speech was supposed to be about the Army's 250th anniversary, but Trump managed to bring up the 2020 election and how it was rigged and attacks on President Biden. Trump took the time to announce that all of the forts named after Confederate leaders are going to be changed back to the original, just like Fort Bragg was from Fort Liberty. When Trump changed it back, supposedly it wasn't about the Confederate General Bragg, but about a paratrooper with the same last name. No one fell for that. The forts that are going to change back are Fort Pickett, Fort Robert E. Lee, and Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Gordon in Georgia, Fort Rucker in Alabama, and Fort Polk in Louisiana. Trump is hell-bent on restoring the glory of the South and the Confederacy. There can be no doubt about it now.
Senior US District Judge Charles R. Breyer, the brother of former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, denied an immediate stay of California's suit against Trump to stop the National Guard and Marine deployments in L.A. There is a hearing scheduled for Thursday over a TRO to stop officials from directing the military to assist in law enforcement.
And there was Speaker Mike Johnson calling for Gov. Newsom to be "tarred and feathered."
Republicans are on the defense because Trump's actions are indefensible, and the Democrats are on the offense with lawsuits and even a call for Trump's impeachment for his actions.
Trump's speech at Fort Bragg is full of whoppers, and it'll be torn apart later. How far gone is he? Well, according to Newsom, Trump doesn't even know who he's talking to. He's making up incredible lies about Newsom and Bass. He wants to have a military dictatorship. 25th Amendment time.
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In other news:
Terry Moran has been fired from ABC News for his post about Donald Trump and Stephen Miller. Doesn't matter that it was true. ABC is just too scared of being sued while the DEI investigation of Disney-ABC is going in. PACO. Press Always Chickens Out.
Tanks will be part of the Army's 250th Anniversary/Trump's birthday parade. They tested out steel plating by running a tank over it 50 times, leaving pavement intact. That plating will be at places already damaged, so the tanks are still going to cause new damage.
