Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is slamming the Trump administration’s wasteful use of the National Guard.
The Federal Government’s deployment of the National Guard in Mayor Karen Bass’s city is still fresh on her mind. During a recent interview on CBS News’ Face The Nation, Bass had plenty of criticism for the move, which was basically used as a scare tactic against migrants.
Bass claims that most of the soldiers who were deployed were left with nothing to do but “playing video games” and protecting empty federal buildings.
Mayor Bass claims that only 200 out of those deployed were used, leaving the rest just sitting around in “complete boredom.”
“My understanding is most of their time has been spent in complete boredom playing video games and essentially waiting around because again, 4,000 deployed, and about 200 actually used,” Mayor Bass said.
There Were 4,000 Troops Along With 700 Marines Deployed
Newsweek reports that even with pushback from Governor Gavin Newsom and Mayor Bass, Trump seized control of the state’s National Guard and deployed around 4,000 troops, along with 700 Marines, to the area last month in response to the protests, which saw some violence against immigration officials, specifically ICE agents carrying out mass deportation raids. Still, officials in California, including local law enforcement, insisted they were mostly peaceful.
“Our police department and our sheriff’s department are the ones that brought the protests when it devolved into violence under control. We never needed the National Guard in the first place. This is a political stunt, a terrible misuse of taxpayers’ dollars,” the Los Angeles Mayor said.
Bass also told CBS News’ Margaret Brennan that many of the troops were confined to protecting two federal buildings and rarely got involved in protest management or local law enforcement actions.
The Pentagon announced on Tuesday that, six weeks after their initial deployment, half of the National Guard soldiers would be released from their duty. Still, 2,000 guardsmen and some Marines remain in the city.
