Dem Rep. Jake Auchincloss of Massachussetts, a Marine who served in Afghanistan, said on CNN last night that Trump has no business deploying Marines to Los Angeles to prop up his approval ratings.
He appeared on AC360, where John Berman asked what he thought about the deployments.
“As a Marine, did you ever expect to see active duty members of the military, active duty Marines deployed on U.S. soil in the capacity that they are now?” Berman said.
“No, John, because in this scenario, as in almost every scenario imaginable, it is unnecessary, it’s illegal, and it’s deeply unfair to these Marines,” Auchincloss replied. “These Marines signed up to sweat and bleed in defense of their country, not to be a political prop for a president who’s sagging in the approval ratings.”
“Can you speak to the type of training Marines typically receive at Twentynine Palms [Marine Corps Base] and how that relates to the new specialized training the unit deployed in Los Angeles is reportedly undergoing?”
"Yes. These Marines are part of 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines. That’s an infantry battalion, John. Not military police. Not logistics. These young men are trained to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy. And they are doing so on the Marine Corps’ premier live fire training facility," he said.
"So, what they are training in for years is what’s called Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain. That’s where they use fire and maneuver to cordon off a section of a city to clear the building out, and then to sequentially clear out, follow-on buildings. They are not trained to treat a population according to the Bill of Rights. They’re trained to treat a population according to the law of armed conflict.
"And that’s appropriate and necessary if you’re fighting the People’s Liberation Army in Guam. It’s not appropriate in an American city where there is no quote, unquote, rebellion. There’s a few scattered protests who, yes, of course, should be subject to the rule of law. And the LAPD has made clear they have the resources and training necessary to do that."
