


President Donald Trump is withdrawing roughly half of the National Guard force sent to Los Angeles to quell the anti-ICE riots that engulfed the city last month.
Nearly 4,000 National Guard soldiers and 700 Marines have been guarding federal facilities in Los Angeles for more than a month, their deployment sparking a national conflict over the president’s ability to send the soldiers to a U.S. city. Weeks after the riots had died down, the Trump administration began its phased withdrawal from the city by ordering the withdrawal of roughly 2,000 soldiers.
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Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that the troops had largely accomplished their mission, allowing many to go home.
“Thanks to our troops who stepped up to answer the call, the lawlessness in Los Angeles is subsiding,” he said. “As such, the Secretary has ordered the release of 2,000 California National Guardsmen (79th IBCT) from the federal protection mission.”
According to state officials, 1,892 members of the 49th Military Police Brigade will remain in the city, down from 3,882 National Guard members previously. The 700 Marines also remain in the city.
While the deployed troops primarily guarded federal facilities, they expanded into other matters of law and order. Last week, 80 National Guard troops took part in a multiagency show of force at MacArthur Park, a popular hub for illegal immigrants.
Last month, a U.S. Northern Command statement clarified that the troops wouldn’t be used to conduct law enforcement activities such as arrests but would be trained on “de-escalation, crowd control, and use of the standing rules for the use of force in advance of joining the federal protection mission.”
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“Their focus is the safety and continuity of federal functions,” it said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass fought the Trump administration on the deployment every step of the way, with no results. The courts rejected Newsom’s lawsuit to put the National Guard under his control.