US Marines make first detention in LA as more protests expected

(Reuters) - U.S. Marines deployed to Los Angeles made their first detention of a civilian on Friday, the military said, part of a rare domestic use of its forces sent to the city after days of protests over immigration raids.

The Marines joined National Guard forces already deployed to Los Angeles ahead of nationwide demonstrations expected on Saturday in what may be the biggest backlash to President Donald Trump since he returned to power.

About 200 Marines will protect a federal building in Los Angeles, Army Major General Scott Sherman, who is in command of both the National Guard and Marine forces, said on Friday. The administration has authorized a total of 700 Marines to be deployed in the city.

It is uncommon for active-duty troops to be used domestically during civil disturbances.

The last time the military was used for direct police action was in 1992, when the California governor at the time asked then President George H.W. Bush to invoke the Insurrection Act to help respond to Los Angeles riots over the acquittal of police officers who beat Black motorist Rodney King.

The Marines and National Guard deployed in Los Angeles are assigned to protect federal property and personnel and may temporarily detain people, but they are required to turn them over to civilian law enforcement for any formal arrest.

"I would like to emphasize that the soldiers will not participate in law enforcement activities," Sherman said during a briefing.

Reuters witnessed Marines detain one person at the Wilshire Federal Building, where the Marines had been posted. A Marine suddenly jumped over some benches and across a garden area to chase after a man, grabbed him and held him down until another Marine assisted him.

Reuters images showed Marines restraining his hands with zip ties and then handing him over to civilians from the Department of Homeland Security nearly two hours later.

U.S. military confirmed the detention after being presented with Reuters images, in the first known detention by active duty troops.

Asked about the incident, the U.S. military's Northern Command spokesperson said active duty forces "may temporarily detain an individual in specific circumstances."

"Any temporary detention ends immediately when the individual(s) can be safely transferred to the custody of appropriate civilian law enforcement personnel," the spokesperson said.

The detained man, Marcos Leao, 27, an immigrant and a U.S. Army veteran, said he was told to get on the ground after venturing into a restricted area, as he crossed a line of yellow tape to avoid walking around the building.

Speaking to reporters after he was released, Leao said he was an Army veteran on his way to an office of the Department of Veterans Affairs when he crossed the yellow tape boundary and was asked to stop.

Leao, who said he is Portuguese and Angolan and became a U.S. citizen through the military, said he complied with all commands and that the Marines apparently mistook him for a protester when he simply had business with the Veterans Administration office inside the building.

"They treated me very fairly," Leao said, adding that he was told, "Understand, this is a whole stressful situation for everybody, and we all have a job."

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell told a press conference he was unaware of the incident.

"Their ability to detain, as I understand it, is to only detain very briefly in the immediacy, and then federal agents who are working with them would do the detention, arrest, or if appropriate, any other less lethal use of force," McDonnell said.

Trump's use of the National Guard was allowed to continue, at least for now, after a federal appeal on Thursday paused a lower court ruling to return control of the California National Guard to Governor Gavin Newsom. The appeals court ruling does not mean it will ultimately side with Trump, as the matter is scheduled for another hearing next week.

"We saved L.A. Thank you for the Decision!!!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The Trump administration "far overreached its authority," the California Attorney General's office said, adding that it remained confident in its case ahead of making arguments to court on Tuesday.

Democrats, including Newsom, have said the use of military force was unnecessary and an example of Trump's authoritarianism. Los Angeles and other local officials have also opposed the recent ramp-up of federal immigration enforcement.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said there was a "big difference" between legitimate protesters and "people who are coming out to cause problems, estimating the latter at less than 1% of those present.

Luna spoke at a press conference in which law enforcement welcomed peaceful protests on Saturday but warned they would arrest those who harm others or damage property.

Cities across the U.S. were bracing for demonstrations on Saturday, when those also opposed to a weekend military parade in Washington are expected to take to the streets.

Organizers of the "No Kings" events, formed as a counter to the military parade, expect some 1,800 demonstrations. Police in California said they expected 200 demonstrations in the state and asked demonstrators to march peacefully.

"They've defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services," the group No Kings, which is organizing the day of action, wrote on its website.

Demonstrations against the immigration raids have also taken place in other cities this week, including New York and Chicago, and there have been some disturbances.

The Los Angeles Police Department said 33 people were arrested downtown overnight for failing to disperse as protests continued in the city for a seventh day, and 13 arrests were made for violating the curfew. More than 200 people were arrested last Sunday and Monday nights, police said.

(Reporting by Omar Younis, Brad Brooks, Sebastian Rocandio, Arafat Barbakh, Rollo Ross and Alan Devall in Los Angeles and Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali in Washington; Writing by Costas Pitas and Dan Trotta; Editing by Mary Milliken, Mark Porter, David Gregorio, Rod Nickel and Sandra Maler)