Ask A Genius 1437: Troops in L.A., Minimal Disruption: A Ground-Level Look at National Guard Deployment and Protest
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/07/02
Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Rick Rosner discuss the overblown military presence in Los Angeles amid minor protests. Despite 6,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines deployed, LAPD maintains control with minimal unrest. Rosner emphasizes the contrast between political theatrics and on-the-ground normalcy, joking that even ice cream faced more danger than citizens.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: There is one more thing. There has been domestic military deployment and legal pushback — federal troops, National Guard, etc. — being positioned in Los Angeles and maybe elsewhere.
Rick Rosner: Yes, we can talk about that. I looked it up — Los Angeles County is about 4,000 square miles. That is huge — almost as big as Rhode Island, which is around 1,200 square miles — actually, it is more than three times as big.
It is a big city — 4,000 square miles, 8 million people — and between the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and the LAPD, there are about 18,000 officers total. The demonstrations are mostly downtown and occupy just a few blocks — not even square blocks, often just linear stretches. Some traffic gets blocked off on a couple of streets, sometimes more, but if you compare the area impacted to all of L.A., it is absolutely trivial.
Jacobsen: And LAPD has explicitly and repeatedly stated that they have the situation under control.
Rosner: Yes, and that is true. No cars have been burned in over a week. The only reason any burned in the first place is because of Waymo — the autonomous vehicle company. Protesters figured out they could summon a driverless car on their phones, wait for it to show up, and then burn it. They did that once and destroyed five Waymo vehicles.
Jacobsen: And after that, Waymo disabled service to protest zones?
Rosner: Exactly. They stopped dispatching cars to those areas, and it has not happened again. During the 2020 George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests, 156 police vehicles were vandalized and eight were totaled. By comparison, only five cars have been targeted now. And back then, the National Guard was not even deployed — despite the disturbances being more intense.
Jacobsen: And yet Trump sent 4,000 National Guard troops last week, and then added 2,000 more?
Rosner: Correct. That is 6,000 total. They are mostly just standing around. They are not doing much — maybe getting mildly taunted by protesters. And yes, Trump also sent 700 Marines. So technically, he doubled the forces present.
Jacobsen: But there is no real shortage of cops in L.A. for protest response?
Rosner: Not for the protests. There is a general shortage of police, sure — like, we do not have enough officers to reasonably do all the things people expect cops to do. For example, L.A. drivers are reckless — there are not enough traffic cops to stop people from driving like dicks. But I do not mind that so much because, honestly, I kind of drive like a dick too.
Jacobsen: And most officers are not downtown dealing with demonstrations?
Rosner: Right. They are still out doing their regular jobs — writing the occasional ticket, responding to burglary calls. Though, if it is not a burglary in progress, it could take six hours for a cop to show up. Again, that is because we lack the manpower for everyday stuff. But when it comes to protests? We absolutely do not need more cops. This is not some apocalyptic nightmare.
Jacobsen: So it is business as usual?
Rosner: Yeah. Things are basically normal. The biggest problem I had recently was needing a National Guard escort for ice cream. Carol and I had a two-for-one coupon, and she made us walk a third of a mile in the sun to get it. It was 85 degrees, and the sun beat down on my head. I got cranky. On the walk back, my ice cream melted. We should have driven. Or we needed a National Ice Cream Guard to walk beside us with an umbrella to shade the cone.
Jacobsen: Other than that?
Rosner: Other than that, nobody in L.A. is having their life disrupted — unless you are a brown person living in fear of ICE raids.
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