While ICE cracked down on L.A. protests, Marines were told to use force as ‘last resort’

WASHINGTON— He served in the U.S. Marine Corps before being deployed to Los Angeles during anti-ICE protests last summer. 12 rules for communicating with protestersand Rule 1 was clear: “Any force” was permitted only as a last resort.

The rule states that if force is used, “it must be the minimum force required to accomplish the task.”

That detail is among 178 pages of federal documents submitted by the Marine Corps to the nonprofit watchdog group American Oversight through the Freedom of Information Act and shared exclusively with The Times.

The documents paint a sweeping picture of how Marines prepared to deploy to Southern California, standing alongside National Guard members and agents with the Department of Homeland Security.

The documents also highlight a glaring contrast between the sailors’ training and that of immigration officers who have been repeatedly accused of using unnecessary force against peaceful protesters, bystanders and immigrants during enforcement operations.

“Ironically, I would feel much safer in Marine engagement than DHS because of the depth of training,” said Ryan Schwank, a former instructor for Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel at the ICE Academy at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia.

Schwank was a whistleblower who resigned in February after the Trump administration announced criminal charges. cut immigration officer training. After reviewing documents obtained by American Oversight, he said the training given to sailors on crowd control was “much more in-depth and longer than the training given to an ICE officer, even under the best of circumstances.”

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions and instead pointed out: February newsletter He said there are no cuts in training and new hires receive additional training after leaving the academy.

“ICE law enforcement officers are trained to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve dangerous situations, prioritizing the safety of the public and our officers,” department spokeswoman Lauren Bis said. “Officers are highly trained in de-escalation tactics and receive regular continuing force training.”

Schwank noted that Marines and ICE officers come to Southern California for different purposes: As protectors of people and property, Marines have a more limited, reactive mission, while ICE officers are tasked with making arrests, a confrontational role.

“We give [ICE officers] There’s less training and less refresher on that than the Marines, but we’re still putting them in a situation where they’re more likely to make split-second decisions, take more confrontational actions,” Schwank said.

He added that for most of history, ICE agents detained people who were already in the custody of another law enforcement agency. He said ICE never intended to act as riot police.

“The real underlying issue is not the use of force by ICE agents,” Schwank said. “This is ICE agents using force in an environment for which they were not trained.”

The Marines’ training and the path to their deployment are outlined in documents reviewed by The Times.

On June 6, a commanding general emailed other generals to say that “leadership at the national level” had directed the Marines to maintain a “vigilant posture” and be ready to support the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and ICE officers already responding to civil unrest in downtown Los Angeles.

The Marines will guard federal facilities and therefore “protect lives and property by restoring civil order,” the email said.

Trump administration directed 4,200 California National Guard soldiers and 700 Marines will travel to Southern California starting June 7.

Marines push back anti-ICE protesters in front of the Federal Building during “No Kings Day” in downtown Los Angeles last June.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

But first they had to be trained.

The five-day course reviewed use of force policies, less-lethal weapons and combating civil unrest.

Overall, the 12 rules emphasized safety, urging sailors to be reasonable, de-escalate tensions and avoid conflict with those who pose no threat.

Marines may use nonlethal force if necessary to control a situation or protect themselves or other federal personnel, and may use deadly force “only when all lesser means have failed.”

“When using any form of force, show due regard for the safety of innocent bystanders,” the rules state.

Schwank said there is no course in Homeland Security equivalent to the Marine Corps course. When he left the academy in February, “there was no crowd control training, period,” he said.

Crowd control was briefly added to the curriculum in 2021 for experienced law enforcement officers, but was later removed, he said. ICE recruits may also have taken lessons in crowd control after leaving the academy and joining their respective field offices, he said.

When Schwank left the agency, a six-hour course called “Public Order Public Safety” was being developed for the 2026 curriculum. Documents submitted to the Congress. Homeland Security did not respond when asked if class had started.

“I don’t assume any of the ICE officers on the scene in Los Angeles have taken any real crowd control lessons,” Schwank said. “They might have gotten a one- to two-hour PowerPoint slide show, but that would have been it.”

Marine Col. Beth R. Smith confirmed that all 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines received academic and practical training before being deployed to Los Angeles.

Managing civil unrest has been a problem for Homeland Security since at least 2021, according to an internal watchdog review of the agency’s 2020 deployment to Portland, Ore.

That year, President Trump mobilized federal force against protests that spread through the streets of Portland after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer. Trump sent 755 Homeland Security agents to defend federal property in what will be seen as a rehearsal for much larger operations in his second term.

A protester vandalizes a Waymo vehicle at Los Angeles Avenue and Arcadia Avenue in Los Angeles on June 8, 2025.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Agents nestled on rooftops used chemical weapons against protesters. Ground forces fired less lethal projectiles at close range and forced participants into unmarked pickup trucks without explanation.

The audit by the Homeland Security inspector general found that only seven of 63 police officers examined had any level of riot and crowd control training. Some officers told investigators they needed additional training, and many “questioned their participation in the operation” due to a lack of preparation.

“Without the necessary policies, training, and equipment, DHS will continue to face challenges in securing Federal facilities during periods of civil unrest that can result in injury, death, and liability,” the audit concluded.

Homeland Security records show that as of spring 2025, the department had not corrected training errors flagged in the audit years earlier.

Schwank acknowledged that concerns raised in the inspector general’s report were never addressed.

Liz Hempowicz, deputy executive director of American Oversight, said the Marine Corps’ emphasis on de-escalation and using force only as a last resort stands in stark contrast to what’s happening on the ground with immigration agents in Los Angeles.

He said the practices outlined in the documents were “different from the positions taken by senior DHS leadership, whose separate internal communications have revealed a mindset that is much more encouraging of violence.”

Homeland Security emails also obtained by American Oversight revealed that the agency’s top lawyer said federal agents in Los Angeles should “start attacking rioters and arresting anyone who can’t escape.”

“These records underscore that the difference between disciplined restraint and unnecessary harm can come down to the tone set at the top – and when that tone shifts towards hostility, the human cost can be devastating,” Hempowicz said.

For Homeland Security, the problem is partly a lack of training and partly a cultural shift toward agent accountability, said Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, a military research group.

“Trump talks about the ‘enemy within’; that’s what he’s talking about,” he said. “To some at DHS, the enemy within is all immigrants, the cartels, as well as groups protesting the government.”

Conversely, the Marine Corps’ documents emphasized personal responsibility and accountability. For example, one page read: “If you use more force than necessary or respond to a non-lethal threat with LETHAL force, you will likely lose your right to self-defense and will be considered an ‘Aggressor’ in the eyes of the law.”

Sailors were told to immediately report anyone violating the 12 rules of engagement.

Kavanagh said the high level of training for sailors shows the command is considering military personnel’s intent to harm or even kill civilians. But he said that while the distribution worked last year, it’s not a good idea in the long run.

Kavanagh, along with Gov. Gavin Newsom, Mayor Karen Bass and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, opposed the military deployment to Los Angeles last year, arguing that the Marines were trained for foreign warfare, not domestic crowd control.

“I see these deployments as a recipe for disaster,” he said.

Schwank said ICE’s training touches on personal responsibility, but not in such depth. Last fall, Trump deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said: ICE officers “have federal immunity “Anyone who lays a hand on you, tries to stop you or obstructs you while you are performing your duties is committing a serious crime.”

In Los Angeles, ICE agents and other local law enforcement officers opened fire on protesters in Los Angeles with less-lethal weapons such as pepper balls, hard-foam projectiles, or flash grenades and tear gas-delivery canisters.

At a protest on June 12, a federal agent pushed freelance journalist Anna Sophia Moltke to the ground, causing sprains to her left arm and leg and deep abrasions to her hip and knee that have since left scars. He said he was carrying a camera, wearing clear press credentials and a helmet marked “PRESS.”

“I distinctly remember that no violence occurred until the police and ICE arrived,” he said. “We saw them firing rubber bullets into the crowd. People started running away. I was halfway there when they started charging into the crowd, and a 6-foot-tall masked man pushed me onto the concrete with both hands.”

Moltke said he remembered a large group of protesters gathering near the Marines stationed at the north end of the detention center just before police and ICE entered and tackled him to the ground. He said that as far as he knew, the Marines remained at their posts and did not engage in street fighting.