Hundreds of active-duty Marines have arrived in the Los Angeles area, under the order of President Trump, to protect federal personnel and property amid anti-immigration enforcement protests in the city.
The activation of 700 Marines came the same day California sued the Trump administration over the deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles.
In their lawsuit, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Attorney General Rob Bonta accused Trump of violating a federal statute by deploying the National Guard over the governor's objections and violating the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
In a budget hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Marine Corps Gen. Eric Smith said that the Marines deployed to the area had not yet been called to respond to the protests, adding they are trained for crowd control and have no arrest authority.
Retired U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Walter Gaskin told All Things Considered host Mary Louise Kelly on Tuesday that Marines will follow orders but deploying them on American soil is "a misuse of talent and forces."
"A mission to restore peace and protect property may require the use of deadly force. That use of deadly force against American citizens is very problematic," Gaskin, who once led the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, said. "What if the crowd pushes you? What if the crowd starts throwing bricks, Molotov cocktails? It becomes a deadly situation in that defense."
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
Mary Louise Kelly: We're looking at 4,000 National Guard, 700 Marines for a situation that California and LA officials say local law enforcement can handle. Is that overkill?
Walter Gaskin: Well, it is extreme overkill. For example, if you look at the size of the police force in Los Angeles, plus the sheriff's department, plus the National Guard, for what was originally about 400 disturbants — I have never seen an environment where you didn't have agitators.
And so if the de-escalation has not happened, it won't until there are there casualties. And we've got too many examples of that type of thing in our history just by using National Guard and the police force, let alone adding active duty Title 10 soldiers and Marines to do that.
Kelly: Do you see issues with chain of command in this situation?
Gaskin: Yes, I do. I would not want to be in the common opposition or that division commander or that regimental commander or that battalion commander who has to prepare these folks for combat.
Because, like I said, there is no half way in between. When ordered to do, they have to execute. That's why we train and we put restraint on the rules of engagement so that they understand if ordered to do this, this is because this is a requirement, not some political whim or something that someone wants to do politically to prove a point.
Kelly: What guidance would you give a Marine who came to you with questions about this mission?
Gaskin: Same thing that we always do. Ours is not to reason why, but to do or die. And that's what we are trained to do. And so they have to they have to follow orders. That's why the pressure becomes on the leadership. And as I started out by saying, the misuse of a capability.
This interview was adapted for the web by Manuela Lopez Restrepo and edited by Karen Zamora.
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