Congresswoman Scanlon’s Statement on The Trump Administration’s Deployment of Military Personnel in Los Angeles
Washington,
June 9, 2025
Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, today released the following statement on the Trump administration’s decision to deploy military personnel against civilian demonstrators in Los Angeles. “In the aftermath of ICE’s aggressive and militaristic detention activities, the White House’s decision to federalize and deploy National Guard troops and mobilize the U.S. Marine Corps in downtown Los Angeles appears to be a manufactured escalation designed to justify abuses of power and stoke fear across the country. “Our military should never be deployed domestically, except in extreme circumstances when it’s clear that civilian law enforcement is unable to handle a situation. This was not such a situation. Whether by design or sheer incompetence, the activities of ICE and the White House appear tailor-made to provoke confrontation and cause chaos, rather than to promote calm and ‘ensure domestic tranquility’. “The last time a president federalized and deployed National Guard troops without the cooperation of state and local officials was 1965 in order to protect the civil rights of Americans. Deploying the National Guard and United States Marine Corps against civilian demonstrators is a gross politicization of our military, and places service members in an unfair and untenable position. “The decision to deploy troops against the advice of state and local officials is an affront to our federal system, attacking the powers of state and local government and their ability to meet the needs of their constituents. “It is a dangerous precedent for the government to turn the military against its own civilians when they object to actions of that government. Such an abuse of power is typical of dictators and authoritarians, not American leaders, and should be universally condemned. “In deploying our military against US citizens, the Trump Administration undermines trust in both our government and our armed forces. I will do everything in my power to protect the fundamental American freedoms that this Administration so callously disregards, and I urge leaders of all parties to censure this action and embrace civil dialogue rather than stoking the flames of division.”
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