WASHINGTON ― The Trump administration is pulling half of theCalifornia National Guardmembersit deployedto Los Angeles in a major rollback of PresidentDonald Trump'smilitarized response to protestsin Southern California over immigration arrests and raids. "Thanks to our troops who stepped up to answer the call, the lawlessness in Los Angeles is subsiding," Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a July 15 statement. "As such, the Secretary has ordered the release of 2,000 California National Guardsmen (79th IBCT) from the federal protection mission." Trump deployed 4,000 California National Guardsmen on June 7 to respond to protests that racked the southern part of the state after he stepped up immigration raids and arrests, targeting farms, restaurants, and hardware stores across the Los Angeles area.He also ordered 700 Marinesto the city that were tasked with guarding federal property. The deployment wasdecried by the state's Democratic lawmakers, who have called anoverreach of presidential authorityand accused Trump of inciting violence.Trump has claimedthat the "Los Angeles would be burning right now" if not for the military presence. CaliforniaGov. Gavin Newsom,a Democratwho suedthe Trump administration over the guard's deployment, called for Trump to release the remaining National Guard members from Los Angeles now that half have been pulled. "While nearly 2,000 of them are starting to demobilize, the remaining guards members continue without a mission, without direction and without any hopes of returning to help their communities,"Newsom said in a statementTuesday. We call on Trump and the Department of Defense to end this theater and send everyone home now." Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass claimed victory after Trump's withdrawal of guardsmen. "This happened because the people of Los Angeles stood united and stood strong," Bass said in a statement. "We organized peaceful protests, we came together at rallies, we took the Trump administration to court ‒ all of this led to today's retreat." Bass added: "We will not stop making our voices heard until this ends, not just here in LA, but throughout our country." One National Guard brigade is being withdrawn from Los Angeles, according to a Defense official who was not authorized to speak publicly. About one brigade, with several thousand soldiers, remains. Anappeals court ruledin June that Trump could keep control over the National Guard troops. Trump, upon his return Tuesday night to the White House after traveling to Pittsburgh, did not respond to a shouted question from a reporter about his decision to pull the guardsmen from Los Angeles. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Pentagon pulls 2,000 National Guardsmen out of Los Angeles
