Overview

• Rapper Doechii used her BET Awards acceptance speech to denounce President Trump for deploying military forces to halt protests outside the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
• Protests began on June 6 in response to aggressive ICE raids across the city that resulted in mass arrests and outcry over civil liberties.
• On June 7, Trump federalized the National Guard and ordered 700 Marines into the city without California’s consent, swelling the military presence to nearly 5,000 personnel.
• Governor Gavin Newsom filed a lawsuit on June 9 arguing that the deployment was illegal and represented a federal overreach into state authority.
• Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and local law enforcement leaders have criticized the military response as an unnecessary escalation that has heightened tensions.