Trump’s $134M Authoritarian Spectacle in L.A. Must Be Investigated
During a House budget hearing today, the Pentagon estimated the Trump administration’s deployment of U.S. troops to Los Angeles will cost taxpayers $134 million. In response, Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, issued the following statement:
“Donald Trump’s decision to deploy U.S. troops against our own citizens on American soil is not only dangerous display of authoritarianism that puts lives at risk, it is also immensely wasteful at a time when the White House is already trying to jam trillions in tax giveaways to the rich down the country’s throat.
“This morning, Wall Street Journal reporting exposed how the White House ‘sparked’ the protests in Los Angeles by making masked agents carry out “warrantless arrests” of undocumented immigrants, and “disappearing” people into federal detention “without notice to families or lawyers.” The administration then used the very protests they instigated to illegally deploy the military – men and women the President previously disrespected as ‘suckers’ and ‘losers’ – against protests that are overwhelmingly peaceful, despite local authorities urging him not to. This is a betrayal of Americans’ freedoms, of hardworking taxpayers, and of those who serve in uniform – and it warrants a full investigation.”