Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) called President Trump a “cruel, dishonorable human being” as she criticized the deployment of National Guard troops in downtown Los Angeles.
In an interview with CNN on Sunday, Waters expressed concern that the military-grade weapons carried by members of the National Guard “will end up being used” against protesters.
“I don’t know why we have guns. What are those guns for? Are they to shoot protesters? I mean, there’s no reason to be here with the National Guard,” Waters said from outside a detention facility where National Guard members were stationed.
“The president of the United States is a cruel, dishonorable human being who would just as soon as shoot somebody down,” she continued. “But I don’t want that to happen. … I want the elected officials to do everything that we can to dissuade them.”
CNN reported that the image of the National Guard members stationed outside the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center drew the attention of the longtime Democratic congresswoman, who represents part of southern Los Angeles.
Waters tried to get inside the federal facility to talk to the president of the Service Employees International Union, David Huerta, who was arrested during an immigration raid, according to the network, but was blocked from entering.
Tensions rose over the weekend in Los Angeles as immigration crackdown protesters clashed with police, who made dozens of arrests as they sought to quell demonstrations.
Trump has said he has deployed more than 2,000 members of the National Guard, 300 of whom were already present on the ground in Los Angeles by midday Sunday.
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment on Waters’s remarks.
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