SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — People are expected to participate in the "No Kings" march on Saturday. The march will begin and end at Waterfront Park in downtown San Diego.
Organizers for the rallies say they're expecting things to remain peaceful, unlike LA's ICE protests, in which tensions escalated and boiled over after several days.
Now that both the National Guard and Marine Corps are involved, ABC 10News dives into the difference between the roles of the police and the military at protests.
Team members of 10News were on the ground in LA the past few days, and said they were able to differentiate between the two by the colors of their uniforms: officers in black were with LAPD, and troops in camo were the National Guard.
Kevin LaChapelle, a former El Cajon police officer and criminal justice professor at National University, said that only the police are supposed to be engaging with the crowds.
"So the things that they would be doing would be like de-escalation, they could make arrests, protect civil rights basically," LaChapelle said.
LaChapelle has experience with protests, dating back to the Rodney King case in the 1990s. He said police officers are only allowed to deploy rubber bullets, pepper spray and tear gas when they're about to be assaulted or see businesses being targeted.
"From the police's point of view, you're looking at how do we create a safe space so people's voice can be heard, but also manage not to have property destroyed," LaChapelle said.
LaChapelle said the National Guard is also trained to help secure buildings. He said the Guard is not allowed to engage with civilians unless they've been deputized.
Shawn VanDiver, a former U.S. Navy officer and founder of the San Diego Chapter for the Truman National Security Project, said the military does not belong in LA.
"The police are meant to keep the peace," VanDiver said. "The military is meant to make war."
This is why VanDiver said he believes the military's presence in LA is a waste of taxpayers' dollars.
"The military is handling administrative support, paperwork, getting water, all support activities that they don't need," VanDiver said. "The military's role should be to train to go to war."
VanDiver believes law enforcement can handle the protests and disagrees with President Donald Trump's decision to deploy the Marines and National Guard without an invitation from California Governor Gavin Newsom or Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
As of Wednesday, ABC News reports that President Trump has deployed 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines to Los Angeles. There are now more U.S. troops deployed to LA than in Iraq and Syria.
President Trump said his decision to deploy the U.S. military was made to ensure that the country won't be destroyed by lawlessness.
"As Commander in Chief, I will not let that happen. It's never going to happen," Trump said. "What you're witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order, and on national sovereignty carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags to continue a foreign invasion of our country."
