The head of the Pentagon promised to send Marines to suppress riots in Los Angeles

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did not rule out in the social network the possibility of sending Marines to Los Angeles amid protests against a raid to search for illegal migrants.

Earlier, a raid by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to identify illegal immigrants in downtown Los Angeles escalated into clashes with protesters. White House press Secretary Caroline Leavitt announced the deployment of two thousand National Guard troops to Los Angeles.

"The Department of Defense will immediately mobilize the National Guard to support federal law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles. If the unrest continues, the active-duty military personnel of the Marine Corps stationed at the Camp Pendleton base will also be mobilized — they are put on high alert," Hegseth wrote.

California is traditionally considered a stronghold of the Democratic Party. The US President from the Republican Party, Donald Trump, has repeatedly criticized the region. Last month, he threatened to cut state funding due to the participation of a transgender athlete in competitions (the LGBT movement* is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia). Earlier, the administration had already canceled flood prevention projects worth $ 126.4 million and criticized the actions of the California authorities to combat wildfires.

On Saturday, California Governor Gavin Newsom threatened that the state would refuse to pay federal taxes in response to a possible large-scale reduction in federal funding from Washington.

*Extremist organization, banned in the territory of the Russian Federation