PNN – The US Secretary of Defense says that if tensions escalate in Los Angeles, the country’s Marines will be deployed.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, citing CNN, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett, referring to the escalation of protests and tensions in Los Angeles in response to federal agents raiding several neighborhoods and arresting illegal immigrants, said that it is possible that the US Marines will be called in to suppress the protests.
Hegsett wrote in a message on the social network “X” that US Marines are on “full alert” at Camp Pendleton, located about 100 miles (about 161 kilometers) south of Los Angeles, and that they could be deployed if tensions escalate.
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This comes as US President Donald Trump has deployed 2,000 troops to Los Angeles following the escalation of protests against the raids on neighborhoods and the implementation of immigration operations.
As protests entered their second consecutive night, federal forces reportedly clashed with angry crowds in a Los Angeles neighborhood, throwing stun grenades at them and blocking part of a highway amid a police raid to detain illegal immigrants.
Yasmine Pitts O’Keefe, a spokeswoman for the US Department of Homeland Security Investigations, said that so far 44 people have been arrested at various locations for immigration violations.
Since taking office in January 2025, Trump has pledged to implement strict regulations on the entry of illegal immigrants and their mass deportation from American soil, calling them “monsters” and “animals”!
California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, protesting Trump’s move, wrote in a message on the social network “X”: This action is a deliberate provocation and will only escalate tensions. We are in close coordination with city and regional officials, and all needs are currently being met.