NV Democratic officials condemn Trump’s tactics in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 11: Protesters march downtown as protests against ICE immigration raids continue in the city on June 11, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Tensions in the city remain high with daily protests after the Trump administration called in the National Guard and the Marines against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom and city leaders. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Donald Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles is “unlawful, unconstitutional, and undemocratic,” Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford and 17 other Democratic state attorneys general said in a statement Wednesday.

Democratic U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, as well as Democratic Reps. Dina Titus and Steven Horsford are also condemning Trump’s actions that have escalated conflict in Los Angeles. 

Ford criticized Trump’s decision to federalize and deploy California’s National Guard without the consent of California state leaders, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, saying the action would “sow chaos, inflame tensions and put people’s lives at risk — including those of our law enforcement officers.”

“The federal administration should be working with local leaders to keep everyone safe, not mobilizing the military against the American people,” Ford said in a statement. 

Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the activation of the state’s National Guard without the coordination of state leadership, asking a court to declare the order unlawful.

“As the chief law enforcement officers of our states, we are proud to protect our communities and oppose violence in any form. We support Attorney General Bonta in his challenge to the Trump administration’s illegal conduct,” Ford continued. 

The statement was also joined by the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Arizona, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Vermont.

Protests began in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, June 6 after Immigration Customs Enforcement officers carried out raids in three locations across the city, where dozens of people were taken into custody. 

That evening the Los Angeles Police Department declared the protests an unlawful assembly, ordering demonstrators to leave the area. The department followed by breaking up protests using tear gas and rubber bullets, but protests continued throughout the weekend with reports of vandalism and burning self-driving cars. 

Trump responded on June 7 by deploying 2,000 California National Guard members to Los Angeles. After Newsom objected to Trump sending in the National Guard without his consent, Trump ordered an additional 700 Marines into the city.

In a statement, Rosen echoed Ford’s comments on the illegality of federalizing the National Guard as protest enforcement, calling it an “unnecessary escalation.”

“Calling up the National Guard without the consent of state officials is unprecedented in recent history, and sending active-duty military troops to go after Americans on U.S. soil is unconscionable and illegal,” Rosen said. 

The last time a president federalized the National Guard over the objection of a state governor was in 1967 when former President Lyndon B. Johnson deployed the National Guard during the Civil Rights Movement’s campaign in Alabama.

“This unnecessary escalation is just an attempt by the Administration to distract from Congressional Republicans’ extreme tax spending bill that’ll cut Medicaid and SNAP to give billionaires more tax giveaways,” Rosen said.

In a post on X, Cortez Masto said she supports “people’s right to make their voices heard” through “peaceful protests without violence or harming law enforcement.”

“The Trump administration should be working with local authorities to de-escalate the situation in Los Angeles, not inflaming it by sending in the National Guard without a request from state or local officials,” Cortez Masto continued. 

Over the weekend, Horsford also condemned the arrest of David Huerta, the 58-year-old president of Service Employees International Union California. Huerta was arrested Friday while protesting outside a business during an immigration enforcement operation. Huerta was injured during the arrest and was treated at a local hospital before being transported to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown L.A.

Huerta “was illegally arrested and injured by ICE in CA. He remains in custody today. Illegal ICE raids are a danger to every community. We must speak out against actions like these,” Horsford wrote on X.

In response to the deployment of the National Guard, Titus wrote on X Monday that Trump’s “immigration policies are sowing chaos and division in our communities throughout the country. Federalizing the National Guard, mobilizing the Marines, and calling for the arrest of a Governor will escalate an already tense situation.”

On Tuesday Nevada State Democratic Party Chair Daniele Monroe-Moreno released a statement calling the decision to deploy California’s National Guard “unlawful,” adding that state and local leaders’ authority should “not be subverted by the federal government” through “federal interference and intimidation.”

Monroe-Moreno also called on protests to “remain peaceful” and condemned “violence of any kind.” 

“Donald Trump’s move to federalize California’s National Guard and deploy thousands of its members without consulting with the state’s governor is a gross and unlawful abuse of power. This unnecessary move is a distraction from his price-raising agenda that eliminates the Department of Education, cuts Medicaid and SNAP benefits, and slashes affordable housing programs — all to give tax cuts to billionaires,” she said.