Pentagon ends deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops in Los Angeles
[July 16, 2025]
By JULIE WATSON, DAVID KLEPPER and DAMIAN DOVARGANES
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Pentagon said Tuesday it is ending the deployment
of 2,000 National 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 National 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 200 of them to be
returned to wildfire fighting duty amid warnings from California Gov.
Gavin Newsom that the Guard was understaffed as California entered peak
wildfire season.
The end of the deployment comes a week after federal authorities and
National Guard troops arrived at MacArthur Park with guns and horses in
an operation that ended abruptly. Although the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security wouldn’t explain the purpose of the operation or
whether anyone had been arrested, local officials said it seemed
designed to sow fear.
“Thanks 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 took to the streets in response to
Trump’s 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 Waymo robotaxis set on fire.
A day later, police officers used flash bangs and shot projectiles as
they pushed protesters through Little Tokyo, where bystanders and
restaurant workers rushed to get out of their way.
Mayor Karen Bass set a curfew 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.
Bass applauded the troops' departure.
“This happened because the people of Los Angeles stood united and stood
strong. We organized peaceful protests, we came together at rallies, we
took the Trump administration to court — all of this led to today’s
retreat," she said in a statement, adding that "We will not stop making
our voices heard until this ends, not just here in LA, but throughout
our country.”
Bass said in a press conference that the National Guard's primary
mission has been to guard two buildings that “frankly didn't need to be
guarded.”
“I am hoping that this experiment with the lives of people ends here,”
she said.
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California National Guard are positioned at the Federal Building,
June 10, 2025, in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer, File)
No visible military presence at federal complex
On Tuesday afternoon, there was no visible military presence outside
the federal complex downtown that had been the center of early
protests and where National Guard troops first stood guard before
the Marines were assigned to protect federal buildings. Hundreds of
the soldiers have been accompanying agents on immigration
operations.
President Donald Trump ordered the deployment against the wishes of
Newsom, who sued to stop it.
Newsom argued that Trump violated the law when he deployed the
California National Guard troops despite his opposition. He also
argued that the National 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’s authority. But
an appeals court tossed that order, 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 National Guard troops was for 60 days, though
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had the discretion to shorten or
extend it “to flexibly respond to the evolving situation on the
ground,” the Trump administration’s lawyers wrote in a June 23
filing in the legal case.
Following the Pentagon's decision Tuesday, Newsom said in a
statement that the National Guard’s deployment to Los Angeles County
has pulled troops away from their families and civilian work “to
serve as political pawns for the President.”
He added that the remaining troops “continue 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,” he said.
_____
Klepper reported from Washington and Watson from San Diego. Sophie
Austin in Sacramento, Amy Taxin in Santa Ana, California, and Hallie
Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
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