Donald Trump IS trying bend California to HIS WILL….
American Troops under HIS control have been stationed IN Los Angles….
(The solider’s are California National Guard member’s and some say they will NOT stay in the Guard if this is what their units are being used for …)
They ARE beginning to wonder WTF are they assigned in combat gear in an AMERICAN city to stand in front buildings and hang out in tents?
THIS is NOT what they signed up to serve for….
When the California National Guard rolled into Los Angeles to respond to devastating wildfires in January, Southern Californians largely hailed the troops as heroes. Celebrities thanked them for their service in Pacific Palisades. Suburban homeowners competed to chat them up at traffic checkpoints in Altadena.
Seven months later, much of that good will is gone.
Protesters jeer the troops as they guard federal office buildings. Commuters curse the behemoth convoys clogging freeways. Family members grill members with questions about whether they really have to obey federal orders.
The level of public and private scorn appears to have taken a toll on the National Guard deployment to Los Angeles that President Trump announced last month, citing protests over immigration raids. Interviews with nearly two dozen people — including soldiers and officers as well as officials and civilians who have worked closely with the troops — show that many members of the Guard are questioning the mission. The deployment’s initial orders to quell scattered protests have given way to legally disputed assignments backing up federal immigration agents…
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Six members of the Guard — including infantrymen, officers and two officials in leadership roles — spoke of low morale and deep concern that the deployment may hurt recruitment for the state-based military force for years to come. Those who were interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity, because military orders bar Guard personnel from publicly discussing the federal deployment and they feared retribution for talking to the media.
All but one of the six expressed reservations about the deployment. Several said they had raised objections themselves or knew someone who objected, either because they did not want to be involved in immigration crackdowns or felt the Trump administration had put them on the streets for what they described as a “fake mission.”…
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Many members of the Guard have had no trouble taking part in the operation and have voiced no personal conflicts or concerns….
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The new mission has put them at odds with communities and families, several soldiers said. Mr. Trump’s immigration crackdown has spread fear and panic in Hispanic immigrant communities in the Los Angeles region. A majority of the California National Guard’s 18,000 members are based in Southern California, and roughly 40 percent of them are of Hispanic heritage….
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On the base, soldiers said, they received riot training, reviewed battlefield maneuvers and drilled to leap from their cots and gear up at a moment’s notice. But mostly, they said, they lounged in warehouse-sized tents, listening to music and playing games on their cell phones. Only about 400 of the 3,882 deployed Guard members had actually been sent on assignments away from the base, Guard figures showed.
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Two Democratic officials who were granted brief access to the base — Josh Fryday, a Navy veteran who leads community engagement for the governor’s office, and Representative Derek Tran, an Army veteran who represents Los Alamitos — said the massive military presence, which has been projected to cost $134 million, seemed excessive and extreme.
“If they can do this here,” Mr. Fryday said, “they can do it in any community.”….
image…A California National Guard soldier guards a federal building in downtown Los Angeles.Credit…Philip Cheung for The New York Times
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