An Authoritarian Trick: How Trump and Allies Poured Fuel on the Fire with Troops and Rhetoric

Donald Trump and his allies turned to a familiar script over the weekend, casting the sprawling city of Los Angeles in shades of fire and brimstone, a hub of dangerous lawlessness that required urgent military intervention to be contained.

- Tess Owen

Donald Trump and his allies turned to a familiar script over the weekend, casting the sprawling city of Los Angeles in shades of fire and brimstone, a hub of dangerous lawlessness that required urgent military intervention to be contained. "Looking really bad in LA," Trump posted on Truth Social in the early hours of Monday morning. "BRING IN THE TROOPS!!!"

But contrary to the Trump administration's characterization of an entire city in tumult, the demonstrations were confined to small areas and life generally went on as usual across much of the city. Protests began on Friday outside the federal building in downtown LA following reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were conducting raids nearby. The protests spread to Paramount and Compton in response to reported and rumored raids there too, and demonstrators faced off with local and state authorities armed with less-lethal munitions and teargas.

By Sunday, despite objections from local officials, Trump made the unusual move of asserting control over California's national guard and deployed 300 soldiers to support ICE. Nearly 2,000 troops were mobilized in total.