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U.S.|Military Plans to Fire Artillery Over California Freeway on Saturday
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/us/artillery-interstate-5-marines.html
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Rounds were fired on Friday across Interstate 5 as part of a test run for Saturday’s event at Camp Pendleton in Southern California.
Oct. 18, 2025, 1:49 a.m. ET
The Marines plan to fire 155-millimeter artillery shells over a major freeway in Southern California on Saturday as part of a demonstration at Camp Pendleton to celebrate the Marine Corps’ 250th anniversary.
The plans to fire over the freeway triggered outrage by Gov. Gavin Newsom late Friday night after his office had been under the impression days earlier that the celebration would not involve firing munitions across Interstate 5, a heavily traveled corridor between Los Angeles and San Diego.
“This is a profoundly absurd show of force that could put Californians directly in harm’s way,” Mr. Newsom said in a statement to The New York Times.
He criticized President Trump and said the lack of coordination among state, federal and local officials was creating a dangerous situation. The artillery demonstration, to be attended by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and military officials, will take place on the same day that anti-Trump activists plan to hold “No Kings” protests across the country, including in Southern California.
“Using our military to intimidate people you disagree with isn’t strength — it’s reckless, it’s disrespectful, and it’s beneath the office the president holds,” Mr. Newsom said.
But a spokesman for Mr. Vance said the Marine Corps had assessed that the exercise posed no threat.
“Gavin Newsom wants people to think this exercise is dangerous,” William Martin, Mr. Vance’s communications director, said in a statement. “The Marine Corps says it’s an established and safe practice. Newsom wants people to think this is an absurd show of force. The Marine Corps says it’s part of routine training at Camp Pendleton.”
