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10th June 2025
07:43am BST
Donald Trump has ordered thousands more troops to descend on LA, four days after protests first broke out in the Californian city.
His latest order sends 2,000 more National Guard troops into the city, as well as around 700 active-duty US Marines.
Protests broke out in LA last week after ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, began conducting immigration raids across the city.
LA has a large number of Latino and foreign-born residents, and the city is now on its fourth day of unrest.
Trump said that those who were protesting the immigration arrests would be "hit harder" than ever.
California governor Gavin Newsom has spoken out against Trump's move to send troops into LA.
He said US Marines "shouldn't be deployed on American soil facing their own countrymen to fulfill the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial President. This is un-American."
Newsom has also threatened to sue over the deployment.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, he wrote: "US Marines serve a valuable purpose for this country – defending democracy. They are not political pawns. The Secretary of Defense is illegally deploying them onto American streets so Trump can have a talking point at his parade this weekend. It’s a blatant abuse of power. We will sue to stop this. The Courts and Congress must act. Checks and balances are crumbling. This is a red line — and they’re crossing it. WAKE UP!"
The deployment of US Marines comes a day after Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was shot by a rubber bullet while reporting on the protests.
The Nine News correspondent was reporting at the scene, explaining to the viewers that “after hours of standing off, this situation has now rapidly deteriorated, the LAPD moving in on horseback, firing rubber bullets at protesters, moving them on through the heart of LA”.
Immediately thereafter, Lauren Tomasi was shot with a rubber bullet while a bystander was heard saying: “You just f**king shot the reporter.”
“I’m good,” Tomasi responded when asked if she was ok.
In the footage shared by Nine on X, an officer appears to aim in the direction of Tomasi before they started firing.
Nine News shared a statement: “Lauren Tomasi was struck by a rubber bullet. Lauren and her camera operator are safe and will continue their essential work covering these events.
“This incident serves as a stark reminder of the inherent dangers journalists can face while reporting from the frontlines of protests, underscoring the importance of their role in providing vital information.”
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