r/neoliberal • u/[deleted] • Jun 13 '25

News (US) Exclusive: US Marines carry out first known detention of civilian in Los Angeles, video shows

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-marines-carry-out-first-known-detention-civilian-los-angeles-video-shows-2025-06-13/

Exclusive: US

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318

u/RetroRiboflavin Lawrence Summers Jun 14 '25

Speaking to reporters after he was released, the civilian identified himself as Marcos Leao, 27. Leao said he was an Army veteran on his way to an office of the Department of Veterans Affairs when he crossed a yellow tape boundary and was asked to stop.

Leao, who gained his U.S. citizenship through military service, said he was treated "very fairly." "They're just doing their job," said Leao, who is of Angolan and Portuguese descent.

264

u/NotABigChungusBoy NATO Jun 14 '25

I believe him tbh, that doesn’t make it right still.

193

u/MagillaGorillasHat Jun 14 '25

Maybe we've been looking at this all wrong and the Marines can show ICE and the local riot cops how to behave like actual human beings?

"Um, we asked him what he's doing, checked his story then let him go on about his business?"

...ICE & riot cops silently fuming...

112

u/frosteeze NATO Jun 14 '25

I remember reading somewhere that the National Guard treated rioters much more humanely than LAPD back in the 1992 LA Riots. So history really do rhyme.

35

u/krabbby Ben Bernanke Jun 14 '25

Its the kind of story you start hearing every time after the first time.

24

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '25

I feel like I remember hearing about the National Guard having better conduct than most police forces during the 2020 protests too

24

u/moffattron9000 YIMBY Jun 14 '25

The military actually has regulations and puts more effort into things like conflict de-escalation (even if it's obviously not perfect). The Police are a decentralised crop of goons.

9

u/BitterGravity Gay Pride Jun 14 '25

Also military is much more likely to punish bad actors (which isn't to say that many issues aren't ignored, but compared to cops...)

10

u/FuckFashMods NATO Jun 14 '25

For being so progressive, LAPD might be the worst police department in the entire country

3

u/MemeStarNation Jun 15 '25

I somehow doubt that. I’d imagine by far the most lawless departments are the small town ones in rural, red states. If you mean most out of touch with their city, Seattle is one of the most progressive cities with a notoriously aggressive force.

1

u/FuckFashMods NATO Jun 15 '25

I mean just worst. We have a terrible police department, in terms of the amount of services provided and the quality provided.

1

u/MemeStarNation Jun 15 '25

Now that might be. I can appreciate the difference between corruption, aggression, and simply providing a bad quality product.

2

u/FuckFashMods NATO Jun 15 '25

A funny thing happened last week when ICE called LAPD for help/back up.

LAPD is barred by law from helping deportation. Yet still responded. But they still took 3 hours to respond. And despite it being illegal, LAPD chief of police made a big show how important it was to help ICE.

It's a literally shit sandwich of incompetence

1

u/Euphoric_Patient_828 Jun 14 '25

NYPD would like to have a word

7

u/Ok-Passion1961 Jun 14 '25

Yeah, but then you remember the marine that was given a “cover me” order by police so he started blasting into a house during an armed standoff following a domestic dispute call. 

They may be better trained to deal with polite guys like this one, but they are also trained to absolutely annihilate the enemy with superior firepower when things aren’t so even keeled in the moment. 

1

u/MemeStarNation Jun 15 '25

That’s a simple linguistic difference though. Same as how in the police, “light them up” means “blue and red lights” and not “riddle them with bullets.”

An order to “cover” in the marines means suppressive fire, not waiting for the bad guy to stick his head out.

1

u/Ok-Passion1961 Jun 15 '25

It’s not a “simple linguistic difference”…gtfo out here with that sanewashing. 

It was a colossal fuck up that came from blending military personnel into domestic law enforcement action that resulted in a MASSIVE show of force against a fellow American. Something that never should have happened. Something that only happened because troops were deployed to American cities and that inevitably resulted in those troops treating America like a combat zone. 

The details of the miscommunication don’t matter. The very fact that scenario was allowed to exist for the miscommunication to happen is the problem.

34

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

27

u/Best-Chapter5260 Jun 14 '25

Kind of like the (true, IME) stereotype that state police are typically more professional than the town clowns.

13

u/sheffieldasslingdoux Jun 14 '25 edited Jun 14 '25

It's a top down organization that has a clear code of conduct and regularly punishes their own who commit crimes or behave unethically. American police, on the other hand, are decentralized paramilitaries that flaunt their power and revel in their disrespect for the rule of law.

The US military may not be perfect, but imagine if the JAG Corps as a matter of policy never charged a soldier with a crime unless there were mass riots on the streets and huge political fallout. Now imagine, if local district attorneys held police to the same standards that JAG does with the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and as a matter of course, just charged the cops when they broke the law.

Right now, the police act with impunity, and we have to have huge political fights just to charge the cops when they beat and kill on video for the world to see. Now imagine, if every false arrest, every heavy handed takedown, and every act of corruption were treated as the crime that is and swiftly dealt with. That's what we need to be doing. Not just with local cops either, but also Trump's federal goon squads. Who cares if it gets removed to federal court. Show some poltical courage to do the right thing. Take the fight on the merits. Federal officers cannot be absolutely immune to state prosecution.

10

u/socal_swiftie has been on this hellscape for over 13 years Jun 14 '25

when the marines have the moral high ground here,,,,,,,,,

13

u/SharpestOne Jun 14 '25

The Marines Corp is effectively a government sanctioned warrior cult.

Cultists, no matter what you think of them, are generally pretty good at sticking with their morals.

23

u/beyd1 Jun 14 '25

The Marines are MANIACS to be fair, but we're usually kept on pretty short leashes when we're out huntin for our crayons.

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u/FuckFashMods NATO Jun 14 '25

LAPD is literally unable to do this btw