California National Guard troops and Marines sent to Los Angeles amid ongoing protests say their deployment feels more like political theater than a meaningful national service assignment, according to a new Guardian report.
“Morale is not great, is the quote I keep hearing,” said Chris Purdy of the Chamberlain Network, who’s spoken with multiple National Guard members since their sudden deployment.
Marine veteran Janessa Goldbeck, who runs the Vet Voice Foundation, reported similar findings among troops she’s been in contact with.
“Among all that I spoke with, the feeling was that the Marines are being used as political pawns, and it strains the perception that Marines are apolitical,” Goldbeck told the Guardian.
Military advocacy groups say they’ve heard dozens of complaints from service members upset about being drawn into domestic policing roles.
“The sentiment across the board right now is that deploying military force against our own communities isn’t the kind of national security we signed up for,” Sarah Streyder of the Secure Families Initiative told the Guardian.
In an “unusual step,” President Donald Trump activated 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines – bypassing California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s consent, according to the report. A federal judge temporarily blocked the deployment Thursday night.
Trump has described Los Angeles as a “trash heap” at risk of being “obliterated” by protesters.
But the reality, according to the Guardian, was that the anti-Trump protests “have been largely peaceful and restricted to just a few blocks around downtown federal buildings.”
The dissatisfaction with the Trump administration’s stepped-up immigration enforcement is also showing up in a pair of public polls – from YouGov and the Washington Post – that show disapproval of both the deployment and immigration crackdown.
“The overall perception was that the situation was nowhere at the level where Marines were necessary,” Goldbeck concluded.