Trump defends L.A. unit deployment
As President Trump warned Tuesday that the deployment of National Guard troops and Marines successful Los Angeles is conscionable the commencement of what he'd bash to quell protests against migration operations, a erstwhile defence caput cautioned astir the hazard of perchance deadly consequences.
In an interrogation with CBS News' Ed O'Keefe, Chuck Hagel, a erstwhile Republican legislator and Army seasoned who served arsenic defence caput successful the Obama administration, said his top interest astir having troops deployed successful ample American cities similar L.A. would beryllium "loss of beingness similar we saw successful 1970."
On May 4, 1970, aft days of nationwide protests implicit the U.S. penetration of Cambodia during the Vietnam War, students demonstrating astatine Kent State University clashed with Ohio National Guardsmen. Soldiers opened fire, sidesplitting 4 students and wounding 9 others.
"When the National Guard opened up connected students and killed students, partially due to the fact that they weren't trained, they panicked," Hagel said.
The Ohio National Guard troops were called successful by Republican Gov. Jim Rhodes against the proposal of assemblage and galore section officials, according to Brian VanDeMark, a U.S. Naval Academy past professor. While it's unclear precisely wherefore the troops fired into a radical of unarmed students, immoderate testified during the probe that they felt that their lives were successful danger.
Instead of starring to a alteration successful protests astir the country, they escalated further. Many colleges and universities unopen down their campuses for fearfulness of akin violence. Now, much protests against migration arrests person popped up crossed the country, including successful Washington, D.C., New York City, Boston, Seattle and Chicago.
The National Guard's grooming has improved importantly successful the decades since Kent State, but they are "still subject troops who are fundamentally trained to fight, not to power crowds," VanDeMark wrote for The Conversation, a nonprofit that publishes articles written by world experts.
When asked Tuesday astir the conditions for National Guard troops astatine a House subcommittee hearing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said troops successful the tract are "very good prepared" and "responded incredibly rapidly to a deteriorating situation, with instrumentality and capabilities."
But Hagel called the determination to deploy the National Guard and Marines a "grotesque overreach of national authority" and said it's "clearly politicizing our military."
"This is truly authoritarian," helium said. "You usually — our strategy works wherever you person authorities responsibility, wherever the politician has responsibility, the politician has responsibility. We enactment an accent connected section power successful this country, this contented successful Los Angeles is simply a instrumentality enforcement issue. It's an migration issue. It's not a National Guard oregon active-duty Marine issue. It's not for our equipped forces. We don't usage our equipped forces against our ain citizens, particularly you don't usage the National Guard."
The National Guard is typically called connected by the authorities governors to respond to large incidents oregon earthy disasters. While it's a uncommon occurrence, presidents person the authorization to federalize the National Guard.
In 1992, President George H.W. Bush invoked the Insurrection Act to deploy thousands of National Guard troops to L.A. pursuing unrest that broke retired aft a assemblage acquitted constabulary officers who bushed Black motorist Rodney King. But helium was acting astatine the petition of authorities officials.
The uncommon instances successful which a president called successful troops without the governor's practice included situations successful the 1960s erstwhile Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson federalized National Guard troops successful bid to support civilian rights demonstrators and students desegregating schools.
Hagel said it's not the relation of the troops to behaviour instrumentality enforcement activities successful the U.S.
"They're not trained for instrumentality enforcement, helium said. "They're not trained for riot successful mob control."
Defense personnel are mostly prohibited from nonstop instrumentality enforcement activities, including arrests of civilians, but they whitethorn detain individuals temporarily to support national spot oregon unit nether "exigent circumstances."
"These radical are agitators. They're troublemakers," Mr. Trump said of the protests Tuesday. "And if we didn't get involved, Los Angeles would beryllium burning down close now."
California officials, including L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom, person besides powerfully objected to Mr. Trump sending successful the National Guard and Marines. The authorities is suing the Trump administration, arguing the deployment of troops is unlawful and asking a national tribunal to artifact them from coming onto metropolis streets.
The Justice Department responded successful a filing Wednesday, "There is nary rioters' veto to enforcement of national law. And the President has each close nether the Constitution and by statute to telephone distant the National Guard and Marines to quell lawless unit directed against enforcement of national law."
And Mr. Trump showed nary motion of backing down from the amusement of force. Speculating that the LA protests mightiness beryllium "the first, possibly of many" protests crossed the country, the president said Tuesday, "If we didn't onslaught this 1 precise strongly, you'd person them each implicit the country, I tin pass the remainder of the state that erstwhile they bash it, if they bash it, they're going to beryllium met with adjacent oregon greater unit than we met close here."
Mr. Trump's comments person raised the hazard for escalation, Hagel said.
"When you laic down a situation similar this, and past you nonstop much troops in, active-duty troops into a place, past you are truly laying retired present immoderate precise unsafe dynamics," helium said.
Ed O'Keefe contributed to this report.
Kiki Intarasuwan is simply a quality exertion for CBS News & Stations.
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