A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Downtown Los Angeles was under curfew last night for the first time since anti-ICE protests began on Friday.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
City officials said the protests have been largely peaceful, but instances of vandalism and looting led them to implement the curfew. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has moved ahead with the deployment of Marines and more National Guard over the objections of state and city leaders.
MARTÍNEZ: Joining us now to talk about the military's role in Los Angeles is NPR's Martin Kaste. So, Martin, the National Guard arrived over the weekend. Marines are now in the city, though we don't yet know where they'll be. Is it clear what their mission is?
MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE: Well, the administration says they're there to protect federal facilities and employees. And we've seen some of that, you know, the row of National Guard with shields standing there as a human barrier in front of federal buildings. There have also been reports, though, of the guard protecting ICE agents out in the field as they do their jobs, and that could put some of those soldiers into more dynamic situations that might start to look a little bit like they're part of enforcement.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. Would they be allowed to do that, to assist ICE directly with its enforcement work?
KASTE: The experts say no because of a 19th century law known as Posse Comitatus, which bars the military from acting as police inside the country. I asked William Banks about this. He's a professor at Syracuse University, and he's been studying this very question about what's legal for the military inside the country for years.
WILLIAM BANKS: For sure they can't arrest. If the crowds are trying to push through them or throwing rocks at their face or something like that, they could protect themselves. That's federal protection. But they can't enforce the law.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. So he says the military isn't supposed to do law enforcement, but they have been deployed inside the country over the years. I mean, I remember back in 1992, right here in Los Angeles, where I'm at, during the Rodney King riots. I mean, how is this military deployment different?
KASTE: Legally, the difference is that in '92, President George H.W. Bush invoked the Insurrection Act, which allows for the use of the active military to quell civil disturbances. But maybe just as important here is the difference that this time around, the state and local authorities don't want the military's help, and they don't know what to expect from the military now that they're here. And you can hear that frustration in the voice of LA Mayor Karen Bass. This is her last night when someone asked her, what are the Marines doing?
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KAREN BASS: Who knows? I mean, the bottom line is that we're not told. Basically, we have to operate on rumors.
KASTE: And, you know, this is really unusual. Normally, you'd have the military plugged into the local emergency management system, coordinating with the police.
MARTÍNEZ: So what happens then if, say, the National Guard and/or the Marines get into a situation that requires force? I mean, how prepared is the military to use force against American civilians?
KASTE: The National Guard get crowd control training, and they have some of the gear, such as those shields. As to the Marines, well, I talked to Mick Wagoner. He's a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who focused on military law, and he said there are some Marines who get specialized training for missions such as evacuating U.S. embassies that are threatened by crowds. But he said that's just not the same as police work. And he recalled an infamous case during the '92 riots in LA, when the police asked some Marines to cover them as they approached the house.
MICK WAGONER: And the Marines then lay down suppressing fire. The police were completely aghast. What are you doing? You said to cover you. It's like, yeah, tell us if somebody sticks their head out or if you see a gun or something, but, Jesus, you just lit up that house.
KASTE: Wagoner says that case shows just how differently the police and military approach things and even understand basic words like cover me. And he says he really hopes that these Marines in LA now will be kept in the rear behind the National Guard because at least some of them may be police officers in their day jobs and may have more training for crowds.
MARTÍNEZ: All right, that's NPR's Martin Kaste. Thanks a lot, Martin.
KASTE: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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