{"id":19723,"date":"2025-10-23T16:02:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T16:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/19723\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T16:02:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T16:02:10","slug":"how-a-live-fire-evident-intensified-rift-between-california-and-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/19723\/","title":{"rendered":"How a live fire evident intensified rift between California and Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Deborah Brennan<\/a>, CalMatters<\/p>\n

This story was originally published by CalMatters<\/a>. Sign up<\/a> for their newsletters.<\/p>\n

California lawmakers are demanding answers after a live fire demonstration over Camp Pendleton Saturday led to a misfire that rained shrapnel on Interstate 5, striking two California Highway Patrol vehicles.<\/p>\n

An artillery shell exploded over the freeway during a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Marine Corps, attended by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Pieces of shrapnel scattered on the closed roadway and struck a patrol vehicle and motorcycle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very disappointed, because I hoped we could celebrate the Marine Corps without undue risk,\u201d Rep. Mike Levin, a Democrat from San Clemente and Carlsbad who represents the district including Camp Pendleton, told CalMatters. \u201cI\u2019m led to believe the decision-making did not put public safety first. That’s why we\u2019re calling for a full investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesday Levin sent a letter<\/a> signed by 26 California Congress members and the state\u2019s two senators to Hegseth, asking who decided to shoot live artillery over the freeway, and how authorities planned for the safety risks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we are relieved no one was injured, we are deeply concerned by the decision-making that led to this incident,\u201d Levin wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The mishap deepened conflicts between President Donald Trump and California leaders including Gov. Gavin Newsom, with some Republicans chastizing Newsom for closing the freeway during the live fire exercise. Other local leaders were exasperated by an unorthodox military display that they believe was orchestrated for the benefit of Trump administration officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost absurd that this would be acceptable,\u201d California Sen. Catherine Blakespear, an Encinitas Democrat whose district includes Camp Pendleton, told CalMatters. \u201cAnd for what? There\u2019s no military benefit. There\u2019s no community benefit. It\u2019s posturing with militaristic bluster at the expense of the safety and well-being of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Marine Corp\u2019s 250th birthday party\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Saturday Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton held a demonstration featuring aircraft, ships, and amphibious assault vehicles to celebrate the milestone anniversary. It involved firing artillery across the coastal freeway in a planned demonstration of 60 rounds, according to the CHP incident report.<\/p>\n

That location was unusual, military and public safety officials said. Although live fire training is routine, it usually takes place on designated ranges within the 125,000 acre base in North County San Diego.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is highly uncommon for any live-fire or explosive training activity to occur over an active freeway,\u201d CHP Border Division Chief Tony Coronado said in a statement<\/a> Sunday.\u00a0 \u201cAs a Marine myself, I have tremendous respect for our military partners, but my foremost responsibility is ensuring the safety of the people of California and the officers who protect them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first round launched at 1:46 p.m. Saturday from M777 Howitzers on a beach west of Interstate 5 toward the east, the incident report stated.\u00a0 That artillery round failed to clear the roadway and detonated midflight near Interstate 5 southbound, sending shrapnel flying toward protective service details assigned to the vice president. After that, the exercise was halted and no more munitions were fired.<\/p>\n

An officer described hearing what sounded like \u201cpebbles\u201d falling on his CHP BMW motorcycle, and other shards struck an empty Ford patrol vehicle. The two officers who had driven the vehicle saw a two inch by half inch piece of shrapnel on the hood, which left a small dent or scratch. Photos in the incident reports show the patrol car struck by shrapnel, and an officer holding the metal shards.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The CHP called for additional review of the planning, communication and coordination between state and federal partners about the freeway closure and public safety. The Marine Corps is also investigating the incident, the Washington Post reported.<\/p>\n

Levin said he hoped the Marine Corps anniversary would bring the country together to honor the force\u2019s 250 year history: \u201cOur Marines deserve to be celebrated without compromising these ideals.\u201d<\/p>\n

A risky exercise<\/p>\n

The incident snarled traffic for hours on the freeway, which Newsom had ordered closed for the exercise. And it startled residents in San Diego and Orange Counties, who are accustomed to noise from military exercises, but didn\u2019t expect one to take place over a civilian transportation corridor. Some shared photos of surreal highway signs warning of the live fire event.<\/p>\n

\u201cArtillery on base is normal,\u201d Levin said. \u201cI hear it all the time from my house. But everything we\u2019ve seen is that firing over the freeway is not how this ordinarily works. Common sense tells us it\u2019s much riskier to fire over the freeway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ian Bennett, a retired Army artillery officer who served in Iraq in 2003, said military leaders plan for every facet of munitions exercises, from gun settings and direction to range conditions and weather.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to make sure that everything is done safely because you don\u2019t want to have a mishap offramp all the good that you\u2019re doing,\u201d Bennett said.<\/p>\n

Live fire exercises involve multiple dry fire rehearsals and any that affect civilians or take place in sensitive areas require extra coordination to make sure there are no surprises, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never had cause to shoot over a major road during training,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cFrom my personal perspective, that\u2019s not something I would consider.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miscommunications before the mishap<\/p>\n

San Diego leaders described miscommunications about the live fire demonstration at Camp Pendleton in the days beforehand, with some elected officials saying they weren\u2019t in the loop.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there was coordination, I would expect it would include my office,\u201d Blakespear said. \u201cWe weren\u2019t even informed or invited to the event.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last Wednesday the Marine Corps issued a statement assuring the public that live fire demonstrations would take place on approved training ranges and comply with established safety protocols.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But that evening, Levin voiced concern that parts of Interstate 5 could be closed in both directions \u201cto accommodate events tied to anything partisan or political.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leaders in Oceanside, the city south of the base, said there was conflicting and changing information about the demonstration until the morning of the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in planning for probably a month to a month and a half out, and there were a lot of unknowns,\u201d Oceanside Police Department Assistant Chief John McKean said. \u201cThe government doesn’t tell you a whole lot of stuff out front, other than we\u2019re coming out and we want a big party.\u201d<\/p>\n

The day before, the word was that the freeway would remain open, Bennett said. He awoke to a phone call at 6:30 a.m. Saturday to learn it would be shut.<\/p>\n

Live fire exercise fuels political feuds<\/p>\n

In a statement Saturday<\/a>, Newsom announced the freeway closure, describing the live fire exercise as a show of force meant to intimidate Trump\u2019s opponents, thousands of whom were demonstrating at \u201cNo Kings\u201d protests<\/a> throughout San Diego the same day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe President is putting his ego over responsibility with this disregard for public safety,\u201d Newsom wrote. \u201cFiring live rounds over a busy highway isn\u2019t just wrong \u2014 it\u2019s dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

All lanes in an area along the base were scheduled to close for about four hours, McKean said, but they were ultimately shut for just under an hour, between about 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

McKean, who served in the Marines, said it\u2019s not typical but not unprecedented to shoot across a roadway. Safety concerns include not only misplaced explosions but also noise distractions, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more of scaring people with the large percussion that comes from the big boom right in front of you,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think they do it that often.\u201d<\/p>\n

Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, who represents East County San Diego, complained on X<\/a> that Newsom overruled \u201cthe best-trained and most-experienced leaders of our Marine Corps\u201d to shut down the freeway and denounced the closure as \u201ca spiteful publicity stunt\u2026 to ruin the occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the errant explosion, Issa\u2019s office said the danger was blown out of proportion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe media don\u2019t need to amplify these comic exaggerations,\u201d Issa\u2019s spokesperson Jonathan Wilcox wrote in an email to CalMatters. \u201c*This* is what shut the freeway down for several hours? Congressman Issa knows that a real governor \u2014 whether Republican Pete Wilson or Democrat Jerry Brown \u2014 would never have mislead (sic) the public and exploited a minimal incident for some attempted partisan gain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Levin acknowledged that as the minority party Democrats have fewer levers to get answers to questions about the misfire at Camp Pendleton. But he said he\u2019ll use his role on the House Committee on Appropriations to keep up pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe administration heard safety warnings from the Marine Corps, and completely ignored them,\u201d he said. \u201cThat would mean JD Vance and Pete Hegseth cared more about their demonstration than the safety of Marines, the safety of communities. So we need to push for answers and accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on CalMatters<\/a> and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives<\/a> license.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Deborah Brennan, CalMatters This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. California lawmakers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,84],"class_list":{"0":"post-19723","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-headlines","10":"tag-california-news","11":"tag-san-diego-county"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19723","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=19723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}