{"id":19139,"date":"2025-10-23T07:05:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T07:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/19139\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T07:05:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T07:05:08","slug":"california-leaders-write-letter-to-hegseth-demand-answers-for-artillery-fire-over-i-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/19139\/","title":{"rendered":"California leaders write letter to Hegseth, demand answers for artillery fire over I-5"},"content":{"rendered":"

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (FOX 5\/KUSI) \u2014\u00a0California Democrats sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday regarding shrapnel that struck California Highway Patrol (CHP) vehicles during Vice President JD Vance\u2019s visit<\/a> to Camp Pendleton.<\/p>\n

The metal shrapnel came from explosive ordnance<\/a> over the Interstate 5 during the U.S. Marine Corps\u2019 250th anniversary celebration on Saturday, which featured Vance and Hegseth. <\/p>\n

Senator Alex Padilla, Senator Adam Schiff, Representatives Mike Levin, Scott Peters, Juan Vargas, Sara Jacobs and 23 other members of Congress requested answers regarding the incident in their joint letter. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we are relieved no one was injured, we are deeply concerned by the decision-making that led to this incident,\u201d the Representatives wrote. <\/p>\n

Prior to the event, White House leadership<\/a> suggested the demonstrations would be safe and not affect nearby areas. Despite these claims, Governor Gavin Newsom had the I-5 shutdown<\/a> over safety concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Newsom] closed the highway \u2014 not only did nobody at the White House or the Marines ask him to do so, the Marines repeatedly said there are no public safety concerns with today\u2019s exercises,\u201d the White House Rapid Response Team<\/a> stated on social media.<\/p>\n

Some local representatives also claimed Newsom closed the I-5 for political reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cGavin Newsom \u2013 who never served a day in the military \u2013 is overruling the best-trained and most-experienced leaders of our Marine Corps and shutting down the main interstate highway in the San Diego region for no other reason than a spiteful publicity stunt and to ruin the occasion,\u201d Representative Darrell Issa posted on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Newsom\u2019s press office responded to Issa\u2019s post, asking him to issue an apology for accusing Newsom of overreacting. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow we learn \u2026 live ordinance detonated early, striking a vehicle on a closed portion of the highway during the event,\u201d the Governor\u2019s Press Office posted<\/a>. \u201cWithout a doubt, an apology is owed \u2014 to not just Californians, but all Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

In their letter, leaders directed 13 questions to Hegseth, requesting him to answer them by Oct. 29. Some of the questions include:<\/p>\n

How did the USMC and relevant components prepare for this event? When did the USMC and relevant components begin preparing for this event?<\/p>\n

Who directed the USMC to conduct the artillery demonstration over Interstate 5? Who made the final decision that the live fire demonstration was considered to be safe? When was this decision made?<\/p>\n

If the freeway had not been closed to civilian traffic at the time of the incident, how does the USMC evaluate that civilian vehicles would have been impacted by it?<\/p>\n

Which agency is going to cover the costs associated with the damage to the two impacted vehicles?<\/p>\n

The full letter can be read on Levin\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaintaining public safety has been a central pillar of that relationship, which is built on trust and confidence,\u201d the letter states. \u201cOur Marines deserve to be celebrated without compromising these ideals. We look forward to your response.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (FOX 5\/KUSI) \u2014\u00a0California Democrats sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday regarding…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9984,6361,7,9,859,8,7338,7668,457,15924,7716,15925,15926,10888,2805],"class_list":["post-19139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-adam-schiff","tag-alex-padilla","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-highway-patrol","tag-california-news","tag-camp-pendleton","tag-darrell-issa","tag-gavin-newsom","tag-mike-levin","tag-pete-hegseth","tag-representatives","tag-scott-peters","tag-vice-president-jd-vance","tag-white-house"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}