This post was updated July 27 at 8:14 p.m.
United States Marines are no longer posted outside the Wilshire Federal Building in Westwood, after the Pentagon released them from Los Angeles on Monday.
[Related: US Marines stationed at federal building in Westwood; 1 person detained]
Marines arrived at the federal building June 13 to support National Guard troops who were sent to LA beginning June 7. The National Guard was deployed in response to protests against federal immigration raids in areas such as downtown LA and Westlake.
A total of 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines were sent to LA in response to the immigration protests. Troops were equipped with firearms, helmets and other protective gear.
No major immigration-related protests took place in Westwood between June 8, when the National Guard was initially sent, and Monday. Activists and community members protesting in downtown LA in June were tear gassed and fired upon by local law enforcement using “less-lethal” rounds, according to the LA Times.
[Related: National guard troops station in Westwood after Trump administration deployment]
Two thousand National Guard troops were sent home July 15, according to ABC News. One hundred fifty of these troops were released for wildfire response assignments, according to the LA Times. The move to remove the Marines came hours after Mayor Karen Bass called for their – and the National Guard’s – withdrawal at a Monday morning press conference.
“We need the National Guard to assist us in preparing for fire season, not for an inappropriate deployment where they’re just guarding a building that’s not under attack,” Bass said at the press conference.
Bass previously said in a June KTLA interview that the Trump administration was posturing by sending troops to Westwood “where absolutely nothing had happened at all.”
Remaining National Guard troops were posted at the Wilshire Federal Building as of 1 p.m. Monday. A line of around 10 military vehicles was also standing in the building’s parking lot.
The U.S. Army North, which, according to the U.S. Northern Command website, helped coordinate the LA response, said in an emailed statement after the release that it was unable to disclose the number of National Guard troops remaining in Westwood due to security concerns.
The U.S. Marine Corps did not respond in time to a request for comment.
