'Very Troubling Precedent': Chris Coons Slams Trump Sending Troops To Los Angeles

Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) criticizes President Trump for sending troops to Los Angeles, California.

Transcript

00:00Could you comment on Defense Secretary Pete Heggs' suggestion that the order to federalize the National Guard could extend to other states?

00:09It's an alarming reminder that President Trump has a history of wanting to use uniformed troops for domestic purposes that are inappropriate.

00:19Our Marines train for combat in the Indo-Pacific, not for securing the streets of Los Angeles.

00:25And in a situation where state and local law enforcement leaders have repeatedly said they had of everything under control,

00:33there is no crisis or insurrection that justifies the use of combat troops,

00:38I would urge that the administration and the secretary reconsider.

00:44Every dictator in the world who wants to use his own troops against his own people when they protest is encouraged by the visuals.

00:52First, of an over-militarized ICE carrying out activity in the parking lot of a Home Depot,

00:59and then the intentional deployment of the National Guard and then the U.S. Marines to suppress domestic dissent.

01:07It's a very troubling precedent, and we should all be following this closely.

01:11Thank you, sir.