(Washington) The US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the withdrawal of approximately half of the 4,000 soldiers from the National Guard deployed in Los Angeles, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump had requisitioned the National Guard in California in early June for the advice of the Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom for 60 days, saying that he wanted to restore order in Los Angeles after scuffles.
“Thanks to the reinforcement of our troops, chaos decreases in Los Angeles,” said Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, in a statement.
“Consequently, the secretary ordered that 2,000 members of the California National Guard are noted from their federal protection mission,” he added.
Donald Trump also ordered the mobilization of 700 navies in reinforcement from the National Guard in order to face the protests, largely peaceful, but some of which have degenerated, against arrests of immigrants by the Federal Immigration Police (ICE).
The situation has largely calmed down for almost a month in the second city in the country, where the night curfew was notably lifted on June 17.
The Democrat mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, who had also opposed the requisition of the National Guard, welcomed in a press release from this “retirement”.
“This happened because the inhabitants of Los Angeles held out. We organized peaceful demonstrations, we found ourselves in rallies, we attacked the Trump administration in court, and all this led to the retirement today, “she said.
