Marine Veteran Reveals Why Trump’s LA Deployment Could ‘End Horrifically’

Politics

Timothy Kudo, a military veteran who served as a U.S. Marines Corps captain, warned Tuesday that Donald Trump deploying Marines and National Guard troops to protests in Los Angeles could “end horrifically.”

Kudo revealed to MSNBC’s Alex Witt that the Marines sent to the demonstrations against the president’s immigration policies — the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines — are an infantry unit that’s trained for “many months” to “close with and destroy the enemy.”

“The training that they’ve just had on how to deal with civilians, maybe they’ve gotten in the past 24 to 48 hours, if that,” Kudo said.

The 700 Marines that arrived in Los Angeles on Tuesday were reportedly set to be issued a card by the Pentagon with guidelines advising them what to do while protecting federal personnel and property in the city.

Their deployment will cost a whopping $134 million, a figure that covers troops’ housing, food and travel for 60 days, per acting Defense Department Undersecretary Bryn MacDonnell.

Kudo chuckled and shook his head in disapproval when Witt mentioned the Pentagon’s “card” for troops before explaining that it’s likely tied to the “Standing Rules for the Use of Force,” which applies to how soldiers should conduct “escalation of force [and] engagement with civilians.”

“Unfortunately, a card runs contrary to how they’ve been trained for this many months, since boot camp even,” said Kudo before referring back to the Marine unit’s training.

Kudo proceeded to underscore the communication challenges that could arise in Los Angeles between local law enforcement and the Marines.

He noted that in 1992, when the Insurrection Act was last invoked by George H. W. Bush during the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, Marines fired hundreds of bullets on a home when a police officer said “cover me” (this means “something entirely different” to a Marine) while they were on a domestic violence call.

“Thankfully,” he added, no one was killed inside the home.

Kudo, when later asked what seems to get under Trump’s “skin” about Los Angeles, said he thinks Trump “hates” the city’s multiculturalism.

“Having grown up there … it’s a wonderful place where there’s a lot of activism and a lot of protest and a lot of engagement by the citizenry,” said Kudo, a Santa Monica native.

“It’s a hugely diverse city and I think it’s something that scares him because it’s a vision of America that he’s entirely opposed to.”

<div class="js-react-hydrator" data-component-name="YouTube" data-component-id="7841" data-component-props="{"itemType":"video","index":19,"contentIndexByType":2,"contentListType":"embed","code":"

","type":"video","meta":{"author":"MSNBC","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaXkIU1QidjPwiAYu6GcHjg","cache_age":86400,"description":"Former U.S. Marine Corps Captain Timothy Kudo, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, joins Alex Witt to share his reaction to the Trump administration deploying troops to Los Angeles and to explain how soldiers “would conduct escalation of force and engagement with civilians” if instructed to do so. For more context and news coverage of the most important stories of our day click here: https://www.msnbc.com/\n\n» Subscribe to MSNBC: https://www.youtube.com/msnbc\n» Subscribe to MSNBC on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@msnbc \n» Subscribe to MSNBC on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/msnbc \nDownload our new MSNBC app for the latest breaking news and daily headlines at a glance: https://www.msnbc.com/information/download-msnbc-app-n1241692\n\nFollow MSNBC Show Blogs \nMaddowBlog: https://www.msnbc.com/maddowblog\nReidOut Blog: https://www.msnbc.com/reidoutblog\n\nMSNBC delivers breaking news, in-depth analysis of politics headlines, as well as commentary and informed perspectives. Find video clips and segments from The Rachel Maddow Show, Morning Joe, The Beat with Ari Melber, Deadline: White House, The ReidOut, All In, Last Word, 11th Hour, and Alex Wagner who brings her breadth of reporting experience to MSNBC primetime. \n \nConnect with MSNBC Online \nVisit msnbc.com: https://www.msnbc.com/ \nSubscribe to the MSNBC Daily Newsletter: https://link.msnbc.com/join/5ck/msnbc-daily-signup","options":{"_cc_load_policy":{"label":"Closed captions","value":false},"_end":{"label":"End on","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"_start":{"label":"Start from","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""}},"provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6n8gJ0dOM8Q/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"‘This could end horrifically’: Ex-Marine reacts to troops deployed to L.A.","type":"video","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n8gJ0dOM8Q","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://www.huffpost.com","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isAdsFree":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"6848e2d4e4b0d219da1a3a2b","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/entry/marines-veteran-trump-military-deployment-los-angeles-protests_n_6848e2d4e4b0d219da1a3a2b","entryTagsList":"donald-trump,los-angeles,msnbc,protests,marines,@us_huffpost_now","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"us-news","isWide":false,"isShopping":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayer":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22","noAdsPlayer":"deeeda04-49cb-4a1d-ac6c-c388a685b58e"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/65db64ea-3903-4be2-9592-a5e7223c958c/1_th.jpg?crop=629:354,smart&width=629&height=354&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":13},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"6848e2d4e4b0d219da1a3a2b","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/donald-trump","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/donald-trump","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/donald-trump"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/donald-trump"},{"name":"los angeles","slug":"los-angeles","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/los-angeles","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/los-angeles","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/los-angeles"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"U.S. News","slug":"us-news"},"topic":{"title":"Los Angeles","slug":"los-angeles","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/los-angeles"},{"name":"MSNBC","slug":"msnbc","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/msnbc","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/msnbc","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/msnbc"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Media","slug":"media"},"topic":{"title":"MSNBC","slug":"msnbc","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/msnbc"},{"name":" protests","slug":"protests","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/protests","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/protests","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/protests"},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/protests"},{"name":"marines","slug":"marines","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/marines","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/marines","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/marines"},"department":{"name":"Impact","slug":"impact"},"section":{"title":"Impact","slug":"impact"},"topic":{"title":"Military","slug":"military","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/impact/topic/military"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"backfillRelatedArticles":[],"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-1\", \"entry_paragraph_1\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-2\", \"entry_paragraph_3\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-infinite\", \"repeating_dynamic_display\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}”>

[embedded content]

You might also like More from author

Comments are closed.