U.S. Marines temporarily detained a civilian in Los Angeles Friday afternoon, the first known case of the military doing so since it deployed to Los Angeles County.
The incident was first reported by Reuters, who identified the detained man as U.S. Army veteran Marcos Leao. A spokesperson for U.S. Northern Command confirmed that an individual was detained, but turned over to law enforcement officials after approximately 10 minutes. He was transferred to the custody of officers from the Department of Homeland Security before being released.
Per Reuters, Leao was on his way to the nearby Veterans Affairs campus when he crossed yellow tape at the Wilshire federal building, which Marines from 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment took over guarding this afternoon. Marines quickly detained him and restrained him using zip ties.
Social media and a Backstage account matching Leao’s name and image describe him as a 27-year-old personal trainer, actor and model. According to his biography, he completed one tour in Iraq while in the U.S. Army. Leao, who gained U.S. citizenship through his military service according to Reuters, was released by authorities and said he was treated “very fairly.”
Earlier this morning Gen. Scott Sherman, the commander of Task Force 51, the Northern Command body created to oversee military operations in Los Angeles County, confirmed that U.S. Marines from 2/7 had arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday with the main mission of guarding federal property. The first group out of the 700 total Marines from 2/7 are at the Wilshire federal building at Sepulveda and Wilshire boulevards, more than 10 miles from the city blocks in Downtown Los Angeles where protests have mainly occurred over the last week. The building is located near the University of California, Los Angeles, and on the other side of the 405 freeway from the West Los Angeles Veteran Affairs campus.
In the Friday briefing, Sherman said that no Marines or National Guard soldiers had “watched” federal agents arrest people, but had not carried out any temporary detentions. NORTHCOM confirmed to Task & Purpose that Leao’s detention was the first such case in the military’s deployment to Los Angeles County.
On Saturday, June 7, President Donald Trump federalized 2,000 members of the California National Guard, from the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, with the order to protect federal property and agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the face of protests from Los Angeles residents. On June 9, he ordered 700 Marines from 2/7 to Los Angeles and federalized another 2,000 Guardsmen, mainly from the 49th Military Police Brigade. The Marines spent several days outside of Los Angeles County, carrying out training in less-than-lethal procedures. The second group of National Guard troops have not yet been deployed to Los Angeles.
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