ARMED FEDERAL AGENTS AND NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS SWEEP THROUGH LOS ANGELES PARK OVER MAYOR’S OBJECTIONS

Los Angeles, Calif.—Heavily armed federal agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and federalized California National Guard troops swept through Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park on horseback Monday, in a bizarre and unannounced operation that resulted in no apparent detentions or arrests.

The action was strongly condemned by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Children playing soccer were sent scattering and into hiding in a rec center in the park and nonprofit workers from St. John’s Community Health doing homeless outreach were ordered at gunpoint to stop their work and leave, according to two workers who spoke at a press conference hosted by Bass after the military action.

Video widely shared on social media showed about a dozen agents and troops in fatigues and carrying automatic rifles walking in a line formation in front of nine CBP agents on horseback lined up shoulder to shoulder, followed by another dozen or so uniformed troops, some of whom carried camera gear and scurried about the park acting like they had something to do. In some clips, a few scattered parkgoers looked on as the agents moved through without any apparent target or end goal, marching vigorously through the abandoned soccer field.

The park is about 2 miles west of downtown in the Westlake neighborhood, which is about 70% Hispanic or Latino, according to the U.S. Census’ 2023 American Community Survey.

Nobody was ultimately detained or arrested, leading to confusion about the nature of the operation and accusations from Bass and Newsom that surprise operation was a public show of force designed to intimidate and sow fear in the community.

A spokesperson for CBP did not immediately respond to a request for more information sent after business hours Monday night.

“What is happening in LA is not normal,” Bass wrote on X. “It is not normal to send in the National Guard without a request from the governor.”

“I know that LA is the test ground, we’re the petri dish for the experiment to see how much will the American people tolerate,” she said in a video attached to the same message. She said in a later message that she had met with some of the children that had to flee when the stunt was executed.

“It’s the way a city looks before a coup,” Bass said at a press conference after troops and agents had left the park. “The administration is continuing what I have framed as an all out assault—military assault—on our city.”

Armored vehicles from the California National Guard, which remains under the command of President Donald Trump, blocked nearby intersections during the operation, leading to the unsettling specter of heavy military equipment and uniformed troops deployed in a major American city to harass families at the park on a sunny day.

The agents left the park after Bass arrived and said she spoke to a CBP supervisor over the phone, and after the Los Angeles Police Department arrived at Bass’ request.

Newsom, who was in the city to announce rebuilding plans and mark six months since devastating fires in Altadena and Palisades killed 30 people and destroyed or damaged over 18,000 homes, slammed the action as “a disgrace.”

“What theater,” he said at a press conference posted on his X account. “On the six-month anniversary, after all, of these fire, that’s the message from the polluted heart of the president of the United States. The polluted heart of Stephen Miller,” he said, referencing the president’s deputy chief of staff and the architect of the administration’s immigration policy.

Newsom criticized the reassignment of National Guard troops to other operations as “mission creep” even before Monday’s action at MacArthur Park.

“These National Guard men and women who were out there protecting people are now being used as political pawns,” he said. “They’re out there on horseback running through soccer fields in the middle of the day, timed around announcements and events like this, says everything you and I need to know about the state of mind of the president of the United States and this administration.”  

National Guard troops were sent to LA over the governor’s objections in June during protests against raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at schools, courts and workplaces. Newsom sought to regain control of the Guard, and won an initial court victory, before an appeals court ruled the president had acted within his authority.