5,000 Federal Troops Guard LA, Detain One Man Rushing to Dentist

Federal troops in Los Angeles, 5,000 in camo, deployed for 40 days, managed to detain only one manâlate for an appointmentâwhile guarding Wilshire Federal Building. Trending queries on "military occupation LA" and "cost of National Guard deployment" spike. âMilitarization of Los Angeles and the deployment of nearly 5,000 soldiers is completely unnecessary and done out of pure theater,â complained Diana Crofts-Pelayo, referencing the operationâs surreal futility.
Deploying 5,000 troops for a single non-protesterâs detainment, LAâs military spectacle cost hundreds of millions, leaving citizens Google-searching "Was LA under martial law?" and "Did National Guard arrest protesters?" Disneyland welcomed Vice President Vance, while MacArthur Park saw more Humvees than arrestsâonly a childrenâs summer camp was disrupted. "If the region was such a threat⌠why has the Vice President visited⌠twice over the past several weeks?" Crofts-Pelayo asked dryly.
Task Force 51âs 40-day mission across 130 LA sites netted one accidental detainee, 17 Humvees, zero protest arrests, and a summer camp startled by camouflage and paperwork.