ISTANBUL
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Sunday that the state plans to sue the Trump administration over its “illegal, immoral, and unconstitutional” deployment of the National Guard to respond to unrest there.
Newsom, blaming the president for “putting fuel on the fire” of the crisis, said that Trump is the one who created “the conditions you’ve seen on your TV tonight” in an interview with MSNBC.
“He’s (Donald Trump) exacerbated the conditions…ever since he announced he was taking over the National Guard. We’re going to test that theory with a lawsuit tomorrow,” Newsom said.
Slamming Trump’s allegations of reviving safety via the National Guard, Newsom said: “He said in a tweet that everything is now safe. The Guard hadn’t even been deployed when he said this. He’s simply lying to people.”
Newsom said the federal directive to deploy the National Guard broke established procedures which mandate coordination with state governors.
“They never coordinated with us,” he said, noting that he had previously worked with the National Guard on logistics, fire recovery and during the George Floyd protests in 2020.
“There’s a protocol. There’s a process. He didn’t care about that. And the worst part, he completely lied,” Newsom added.
Reiterating his call for protesters to remain peaceful on social media, he said: “Los Angeles: don’t take Trump’s bait. Trump wants chaos, and he’s instigated violence. Those who assault law enforcement or cause property damage will risk arrest.”
Protesters clashed with police and set at least five cars on fire in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday night on the third day of demonstrations protesting the Trump administration’s immigration raids in California.
Law enforcement officials fired tear gas and crowd-control ammunition to break up the demonstrations and dozens of protesters were arrested.
Hundreds of California National Guard troops arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday after Trump ordered 2,000 guardsmen to be deployed to southern California. An additional 500 Marines are on “prepare to deploy” orders if they are needed.
Newsom objected to the president’s deployment of the National Guard, which could occupy Los Angeles for up to 60 days, calling it illegal and formally requesting Trump to rescind the order.
The protests began Friday after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained hundreds of people in Los Angeles suspected to be living in the US illegally.
The Trump administration said it will continue with its ICE raids despite the protests, as part of the president’s immigration crackdown.
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