by Southern Californians mainly praised the California National Guard as heroes when they arrived in Los Angeles in January to combat disastrous wildfires. They received gratitude from celebrities for their service in the Pacific Palisades. In Altadena, suburban homeowners vied to talk to them at traffic checkpoints.
A large portion of the goodwill has vanished within seven months.
As the army defend federal office buildings, protesters taunt them. The massive convoys that bottleneck roadways are a source of ire for commuters. Members are questioned by family members about whether or not they must actually follow federal directives.
The National Guard deployment to Los Angeles, which President Trump authorized last month, citing protests over immigration searches, seems to have suffered from the degree of public and private disdain. Numerous members of the Guard are doubting the mission, according to interviews with around two dozen individuals, including officers, soldiers, and officials as well as civilians who have had intimate contact with the troops. Legally contested missions supporting federal immigration officials have replaced the deployment’s original directives to put an end to dispersed protests.
According to one soldier, those who worked in the wildfires were given tickets to Disneyland. Tickets to Disneyland are no longer being distributed.
Six Guard personnel, including infantrymen, officers, and two high-ranking administrators, expressed low morale and serious worries that the deployment would negatively impact state-based armed force recruiting for years to come. Due to military rules prohibiting Guard soldiers from publicly discussing the federal deployment and their fear of reprisals for speaking to the media, those interviewed agreed to speak on condition of anonymity.
Of the six, all but one had concerns about the deployment. Others claimed to have objected themselves or to know someone who had, either because they didn’t want to be part of immigration crackdowns or because they believed the Trump administration had placed them on the streets for what they called a phony purpose.
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