The Department of Defense is deploying thousands more National Guard members to safeguard federal sites in response to anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) demonstrations in Los Angeles.

“Following instructions from the Secretary of Defense and in collaboration with the U.S. Northern Command, an additional 2,000 California Army National Guard troops have been activated under Title 10 to assist in securing federal operations, personnel, and property in the greater Los Angeles area,” stated a U.S. Northern Command announcement on Tuesday.

The statement indicates that the 49th Military Police Brigade will join forces with the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, all of which will be under the leadership of Task Force 51, headed by Maj. Gen. Scott M. Sherman.

Demonstrators holding signs and flags face California National Guard members standing guard outside the Federal Building as they protest in response to federal immigration operations in Los Angeles on June 9, 2025. (APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images)

“This is clean up from the Pentagon,” Newsom spokesperson Diana Crofts-Pelayo told Fox News Digital in a Wednesday morning statement. “This isn’t a new deployment — it’s the same group of soldiers who have been diverted from critical wildfire work and work at the border, now twiddling their thumbs for Donald Trump’s political theater. This is the deployment of the second set of 2,000 federalized Guard soldiers, under the June 9 order. The description of what they are and aren’t going to be doing is meant to be consistent with their legal position, rather than the immigration enforcement support we’ve seen them doing in Los Angeles.”

About two weeks ago, riots erupted in Paramount, California, just south of Los Angeles, after ICE conducted immigration sweeps in the city. Those riots quickly spread north, leading to several nights of showdowns between law enforcement and unruly bad actors. 

Stores in downtown Los Angeles were broken into and looted, and some of the downtown area was vandalized with anti-ICE and anti-Trump graffiti. 

Several “Kill Trump” messages were graffitied in the city’s downtown. The U.S. Secret Service told Fox News Digital last week it was “aware” of the threatening messages. 

A rioter waves a Mexican national flag next to a car on fire during a protest following federal immigration operations, in the Compton neighborhood of Los Angeles on June 7, 2025. (Getty Images)

Meanwhile, violent behavior continues to flare up. 

A mob of 100 looters ransacked an AutoZone in southern Los Angeles early Monday morning, resulting in the reported loss of $67,000 in merchandise. 

Detectives are investigating whether the looting episode is related to a “street takeover.”