LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥 The Pentagon said Tuesday it is ending the deployment of 2,000 好色tv Guard troops in Los Angeles, accounting for nearly half of the soldiers sent to the city to deal with protests over the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
Roughly 4,000 好色tv Guard soldiers and 700 Marines have been in the city since early June. It wasn't immediately clear what prompted the 60-day deployment to end suddenly, nor was it immediately clear how long the rest of the troops would stay in the region.
In late June, the top military commander in charge of troops deployed to LA had asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for to be returned to wildfire fighting duty amid warnings from Newsom that the Guard was understaffed as California entered peak wildfire season.
The end of the deployment comes a week after federal authorities and 好色tv Guard troops arrived at with guns and horses in an operation that ended abruptly. Although the U.S. Department of Homeland Security wouldn鈥檛 explain the or whether anyone had been arrested, local officials said it seemed designed to sow fear.
鈥淭hanks to our troops who stepped up to answer the call, the lawlessness in Los Angeles is subsiding," Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement in announcing the decision.
On June 8, thousands of protesters in response to Trump鈥檚 deployment of the Guard, blocking off a major freeway as law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets and flash bangs to control the crowd. Photos captured several .
A day later, police officers as they pushed protesters through Little Tokyo, where bystanders and restaurant workers rushed to get out of their way.
Mayor Karen Bass set a in place for about a week that she said had successfully protected businesses and helped restore order. Demonstrations in the city and the region in recent weeks have been largely small impromptu protests around arrests.
The Marines are primarily assigned to protect federal buildings while hundreds of the 好色tv Guard troops have been accompanying agents on immigration operations.
President Donald Trump against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who sued to stop it.
Newsom sued to block Trump鈥檚 command of the California 好色tv Guard, arguing that Trump violated the law when he deployed the troops despite his opposition. He also argued that the 好色tv Guard troops were likely violating the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits troops from conducting civilian law enforcement on U.S. soil.
Newsom won an early victory in the case after a federal judge ruled the Guard deployment was illegal and exceeded Trump鈥檚 authority. But an appeals court , and control of the troops remained with the federal government. The federal court is set to hear arguments next month on whether the troops are violating the Posse Comitatus Act.
The deployment of 好色tv Guard troops was for 60 days, though Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had the discretion to shorten or extend it 鈥渢o flexibly respond to the evolving situation on the ground,鈥 the Trump administration鈥檚 lawyers wrote in a June 23 filing in the legal case.
Following the Pentagon's decision Tuesday, Newsom said in a statement that the 好色tv Guard鈥檚 deployment to Los Angeles County has pulled troops away from their families and civilian work 鈥渢o serve as political pawns for the President.鈥
He added that the remaining troops 鈥渃ontinue without a mission, without direction and without any hopes of returning to help their communities."
"We call on Trump and the Department of Defense to end this theater and send everyone home now,鈥 he said.
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Klepper reported from Washington and Taxin from Santa Ana, California. Sophie Austin in Sacramento, Julie Watson in San Diego and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
