Furore over photo of National Guard troops sleeping on the floor

California’s Governor has torn into Donald Trump over a wild picture of some of the National Guard troops deployed to the riots.

The situation in Los Angeles remains febrile. President Donald Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom are trading inflammatory remarks, with the former suggesting Mr Newsom should be arrested, and the latter labelling Mr Trump’s actions dictatorial.

And while we’re on the subject of labelling, Mr Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees the immigration system, today called Los Angeles a “city of criminals”. She also said the protests have “absolutely” involved people being paid to show up, though she did not offer evidence.

It was reported early on Tuesday morning, Australian time, that 700 US Marines would be deployed to Los Angeles to support law enforcement. That was later confirmed by both the military itself and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“Due to increased threats to federal law enforcement officers and federal buildings, approximately 700 active-duty US Marines from Camp Pendleton are being deployed to Los Angeles to restore order,” Mr Hegseth said.

“We have an obligation to defend federal law enforcement officers - even if Gavin Newsom will not.”

Mr Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who are Democrats, have accused Mr Trump of inflaming the situation on purpose by sending in the National Guard against their will. The Governor has demanded that the order deploying them be rescinded.

Speaking to the media yesterday, the Los Angeles Police Department was more circumspect. Police Chief Jim McDonnell noted that the National Guard had not been deployed through the normal process, and that no one had requested them, but conceded his department was being “overwhelmed” by the number of protesters.

Those demonstrators are animated by the Trump administration’s attempts to deport migrants from California en masse, which have seen it skirt usual parts of the legal process. Agents of the enforcement agency ICE have, for instance, been seizing people without warrants.

Yesterday Mr Trump argued that Los Angeles had been “invaded and occupied by illegal aliens and criminals”.

The protests in recent days have included acts of violence towards law enforcement, mostly involving members of the public pelting police with projectiles. We have also seen images of vehicles being set on fire.

Read on for the latest updates from Tuesday.

Originally published as Furore over photo of National Guard troops sleeping on the floor