2024 Democratic presidential candidate and former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has slammed President Donald Trump for dispatching National Guard troops to Los Angeles in response to escalating immigration protests.
Calling the move an intentional provocation, Harris accused Trump of using federal forces to intensify unrest rather than promote safety. “Deploying the National Guard is a dangerous escalation meant to provoke chaos,” she wrote in a post shared across her social media platforms. “In addition to the recent ICE raids in Southern California and across our nation, it is part of the Trump Administration’s cruel, calculated agenda to spread panic and division.”
Kamala Harris added: “This Administration’s actions are not about public safety — they’re about stoking fear. Fear of a community demanding dignity and due process.”
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My statement on what's unfolding in Los Angeles. pic.twitter.com/rujs8mrVPK
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) June 8, 2025
Her criticism came as scenes of confrontation unfolded in Los Angeles, with hundreds of demonstrators clashing with law enforcement near federal buildings. Guard members, equipped with long guns and riot shields, stood in formation outside the federal detention center, where protesters had gathered. Shouts of “shame” and “go home” echoed through the streets as tensions flared.
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When protesters approached the Guard line, additional security forces advanced, releasing smoke canisters. Moments later, LAPD officers fired non-lethal rounds to disperse the crowd. Demonstrators then moved to block traffic on the 101 freeway before being cleared by state troopers later that day.
The deployment, reportedly involving at least 300 troops, was ordered by Trump over the objections of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who normally has jurisdiction over the state’s National Guard. Trump originally pledged to send up to 2,000 troops and claimed federalization was necessary to “address the lawlessness” in the state. Newsom pushed back, calling the move “purposely inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.”
This isn’t the first time President Donald Trump has relied on the National Guard to respond to protest movements. In 2020, he urged governors across the country to send troops to Washington, D.C., following nationwide unrest after the police killing of George Floyd. While several Republican-led states complied, others declined to participate.
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