Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sparked outrage on social media on Monday evening after he confirmed that about 700 active-duty Marines will be deployed to Los Angeles amid threats to federal law enforcement officers and federal buildings.
Protesters have swarmed Los Angeles in response to a series of federal immigration enforcement actions, specifically large-scale raids from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that resulted in the arrest of more than 100 immigrants last week.
The protests intensified following the arrest of David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, of California, during a Friday demonstration. Many protesters have opposed the deployment of the National Guard, which Trump ordered over the weekend despite opposition from Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
On Monday evening, Hegseth confirmed reports that hundreds of Marines had been mobilized.
"Due to increased threats to federal law enforcement officers and federal buildings, approximately 700 active-duty U.S. Marines from Camp Pendleton are being deployed to Los Angeles to restore order," Hegseth wrote on the platform X. "We have an obligation to defend federal law enforcement officers - even if Gavin Newsom will not."
Newsom called out Trump for sending troops and giving them no fuel, food, water or even a place to sleep.
"Here they are — being forced to sleep on the floor, piled on top of one another. If anyone is treating our troops disrespectfully, it is you @realDonaldTrump," wrote Newsom.
Others soon piled on and attacked Hegseth, including Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY).
"This is a bulls---, bad-faith argument from Hegseth. A total amateur clown who's in way over his head. Every soldier knows it is wrong – AND FUNDAMENTALLY UNAMERICAN – to deploy active duty US troops against US citizens," Ryan railed on X.
Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) echoed Ryan's sentiments on X.
"Deploying 700 Marines on U.S. soil against the will of local leaders and law enforcement is a dangerous abuse of power. Our military is a sacred trust meant to protect the American people, not be used by President Trump and Secretary Hegseth to strike fear into Americans. A strong and trusted United States military must remain apolitical. Trump’s escalation today not only weakens Americans’ trust in their own freedoms of speech and protest but trust in what our military stands for," he wrote.
S.V. Dáte, White House correspondent at HuffPost, noted that when Trump "wanted his defense secretary to order soldiers to shoot Americans back in 2020, Mark Esper told him no."
"This time, Trump has a solid 'yes' man in that job in Pete Hegseth," wrote Dáte.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, meanwhile, told MeidasTouch Network that to "have someone like Hegseth say that he’s going to put the Marines on the streets of America, that’s really dangerous, it’s dangerous for our civilization population, it’s not good for the Marines."
She added: "I think Governor Newsom going to court is exactly he should be doing and to actually try to contain the situation, try to keep people safe as Trump is as usual doing nothing but what he thinks works for himself politically and actually putting a lot of people in danger."