US Military Says 500 Marines Are ‘Prepared to Deploy’ to Los Angeles

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s earlier ‘high alert’ comment drew sharp criticism from California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

A Marine CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter flies during training at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego on Feb. 6, 2024. K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP

U.S. military officials confirmed Sunday that around 500 Marines are “prepared to deploy” if necessary to quell unrest in Los Angeles in recent days, coming as the National Guard was deployed in the city.

U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) said that the Marines would be sent from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, which is based out of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, California.

The Marines are currently “in a prepared to deploy status should they be necessary to augment and support” the federal military mission in the city, NORTHCOM said.

Previously, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Marines from Camp Pendleton were on “high alert,” although he did not say how many.

Hegseth’s comment drew criticism from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said in a post on X that the federal government is “threatening to deploy active-duty Marines on American soil against its own citizens.”

“This is deranged behavior,” he said, drawing a response from Hegseth on social media.

The Pentagon chief wrote on Sunday morning that Newsom and local officials have allowed Los Angeles to “burn” and “law enforcement to be attacked” by rioters.

“The National Guard, and Marines if need be, stand with ICE,” he said, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

NORTHCOM’s notice came a day after President Donald Trump announced in a signed memorandum that he would deploy National Guard troops to Los Angeles. Officials have said that around 300 were deployed in Los Angeles County on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Trump did not rule out invoking the Insurrection Act while speaking to reporters alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio outside Air Force One on June 8.

Trump also issued a statement on Truth Social saying that “violent, insurrectionist mobs are swarming and attacking our Federal Agents to try and stop our deportation operations.”

Early on June 9, the president said on Truth Social: “Looking really bad in L.A. BRING IN THE TROOPS!!!”

He did not specify whether those troops would be the on-standby Marines or National Guard members.

Newsom sent a letter to Hegseth formally demanding that the Defense Department pull the National Guard troops, also telling MSNBC in an interview over the weekend that he will file a lawsuit against the administration.

“This is exactly what Donald Trump wanted. He flamed the fires and illegally acted to federalize the National Guard,” Newsom wrote on X on Monday. “We’re suing him.”

The Republican president has pledged to deport record numbers of illegal immigrants and to lock down the U.S.–Mexico border, setting the ICE border enforcement agency a daily goal of arresting at least 3,000 illegal immigrants.

Los Angeles police said some protesters had thrown concrete projectiles, bottles, and other items at officers. Police declared several rallies to be unlawful assemblies and later extended that to include the whole downtown area.

Several self-driving cars from Alphabet’s Waymo were set on fire on a downtown street on Sunday evening, video footage shows.

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell told a media briefing on Sunday evening that people had a right to protest peacefully but that the violence by some was “disgusting” and that the protests were getting out of control.

Police said they had arrested 10 people on Sunday and 29 the previous night, adding that arrests were continuing.

Reuters contributed to this report.