Trump Says Los Angeles 'Would Burn To The Ground' If He Did Not Send Troops

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that if he had not deployed Marines and other soldiers in Los Angeles, the city “would be burning to the ground right now”.

“If I didn't ‘SEND IN THE TROOPS' to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

To put an end to the protests, about 700 Marines have been deployed in Los Angeles and 4,000 National Guard troops have been mobilised. Notably, the American military does not have any domestic law enforcement role. The US Marines had been deployed domestically in 2005 for Hurricane Katrina and for the 26/11 attacks.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said that this move by the US president is fulfilling "the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial president". The state is suing the president for sending in troops without the permission of the governor.

The last time a president had sent National Guard troops to a US city without a governor's approval was in 1965.

District Attorney Nathan Hochman told BBC that extra deployment was unnecessary because only a “small fraction” of the area's population was protesting and an even smaller number had broken the law.

Today marks the fourth day of chaotic protests against immigration raids. Local officials say that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have stoked fear in the immigrant community.

The state sued the Trump administration for mobilising national guard troops in the city.

However, Trump's Border Czar, Tom Homan threatened that elected officials could get arrested if they interfered with agents on the ground. 

“I'm telling you what, we're going to keep enforcing law every day in L.A.,” Homan said. “Every day in L.A., we're going to enforce immigration law. I don't care if they like it or not.”

“I'll say it about anybody,” Homan added. “You cross that line, it's a felony to knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien. It's a felony to impede law enforcement doing their job.”