BREAKING: Texas governor deploys over 5,000 National Guard soldiers to the state
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Reporting from New York, N.Y.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced that he has deployed more than 5,000 National Guard troops to quell protests throughout the state.
In a news release, the governor said 2,000 Texas Department of Public Safety troopers have also been deployed ahead of expected weekend protests over Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.
“Anyone engaging in acts of violence or damaging property will be arrested and held accountable to the full extent of the law. Don’t mess with Texas — and don’t mess with Texas law enforcement,” Abbott said in the press release.
Abbott said Wednesday that he would be deploying National Guard troops throughout the state but declined to give a number until now.
Activists who are organizing a protest against Saturday’s U.S. military parade gathered in front of the White House on Thursday, calling on Americans to protest en masse.
The parade will mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army and will coincide with Trump’s 79th birthday. In unprecedented fashion, it is expected to feature tanks and hundreds of other military vehicles and aircraft.
The group of advocates, Refuse Fascism, called on supporters to protest peacefully.
“By marching here, where the eyes of the world will be on Saturday, by standing up where the political battle lines have been drawn, by defying Trump’s illegal, unconstitutional, fascist threat of violence against us, we aim to give strength and courage to the decent people of this country, the tens of millions of people who did not vote for Donald Trump, who do not want the nightmare that he is bringing,” Sunsara Taylor, a spokesperson for the group, said.
Trump warned on Tuesday that protesters will be met with “very heavy force.”
When asked about Trump’s comments, Taylor said Saturday’s protest will be a “test.”
“The fact that we have to be having that conversation itself should make everybody recognize the stakes of standing up now before we lose these rights, before it is too late,” she said.
“Are we going to voluntarily give up our First Amendment right, or are we going to come out with whatever courage it takes and whatever sacrifice it may entail to stand up for the basic rights that should be guaranteed in this country and for the future of humanity against this fascist regime?” she added.
Taylor said she did not have an estimate of how many people were expected to gather for the rally.
A video obtained by NBC News shows two cars that appear to be driven by law enforcement colliding with a civilian vehicle in Los Angeles on Thursday morning.
The footage shows a white passenger car surrounded by two vehicles on a street. After the collision, men wearing vests and holding guns surround the white vehicle.
Mayra Rojas, the owner of the Paris Store on Whittier Boulevard in Los Angeles, who shared the videos with NBC News, said she saw a man, a woman and two kids inside the car that got hit on two sides by the vehicles.
“I was inside but I hear that noise. It sounds like a lot, but I went outside to see it and I start recording,” she said of the moment she heard commotion outside her clothing shop.
In one of the videos, the men can be seen wearing a vest with the words “Police HSI.” HSI stands for Homeland Security Investigations, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security.
DHS said in a statement that “this was a targeted arrest of a violent rioter who punched a CBP officer” and that the suspect, Christian Damian Cerno-Camacho, allegedly attempted to flee following the alleged assault.
At a Wednesday-evening press conference, a lawyer for the family inside the car said the husband, a wife and two minor children were subjected to “chemical agents” during the arrest and called the conduct of the federal agents “completely inexcusable.”
Christian Contreras, the lawyer, says he plans to sue over the incident. Contreras added that the family has seen DHS’ statement alleging one of the individuals in the car had punched a CBP officer, but says he had not yet seen any proof of the allegations being made.
Reporting from New York, N.Y.
A group of protesters will hold a press conference in front of the White House at 11 a.m. ET.
According to a news release, the group Refuse Fascism will address plans to protest the U.S. military parade in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.
“This is not a time for fear, it is a time for courage and conviction,” the group wrote. “A time to stand up for the future of all.”
Trump warned Tuesday that those who protest the event, which will also coincide with his birthday, will be met with “very heavy force.”
Reporting from New York, N.Y.
A federal judge will hear arguments today in the state of California’s challenge to the Trump administration’s deployment of the National Guard and U.S. Marines to quell protests in Los Angeles.
The hearing, which will take place this afternoon in San Francisco, comes after the state’s emergency request to block the deployment was denied on Tuesday.
Reporting from New York, N.Y.
Thousands of people across the country are expected to continue protesting nationwide Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.
Hundreds of protesters have been arrested in recent days in Los Angeles, Pasadena, New York City, Chicago, Austin, Las Vegas and Seattle.
While many of the protests have been peaceful, violent clashes with authorities have prompted officials to enact curfews in parts of downtown Los Angeles and Spokane, Washington.
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