How the apparent live fire deepened the rift between California and Trump

from Deborah BrennanCalMatters

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California lawmakers are demanding answers after a live-fire demonstration over Camp Pendleton on Saturday led to a misfire that rained shrapnel down Interstate 5, hitting two vehicles on the California Freeway.

An artillery shell exploded over the highway during a Marine Corps 250th anniversary celebration attended by Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Pieces of shrapnel scattered across the closed road and hit a patrol car and a motorcycle.

“I was very disappointed because I was hoping we could celebrate the Marine Corps without undue risk,” Congressman Mike Levin, a San Clemente-Carlsbad Democrat who represents the area including Camp Pendleton, told CalMatters. “I am led to believe that the decision-making did not put public safety first. That is why we are calling for a full investigation.”

On Wednesday Levin send a letter signed by 26 members of California’s Congress and two state senators to Hegseth, asking who decided to fire live artillery over the highway and how authorities planned for the safety risks.

“While we are relieved that no one was injured, we are deeply concerned about the decision-making that led to this incident,” Levin wrote.

The crash deepened conflicts between President Donald Trump and California leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, with some Republicans chastising Newsom for closing the highway during the live-fire drill. Other local leaders were irritated by the unorthodox military demonstration, which they said was staged to benefit Trump administration officials.

“It’s almost absurd that this would be acceptable,” California Sen. Catherine Blakespear, a Democrat from Encinitas whose district includes Camp Pendleton, told CalMatters. “And for what? There’s no military benefit. There’s no community benefit. It’s posturing with militaristic noise at the expense of community safety and well-being.”

Marine Corps 250th Birthday Party

On Saturday, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton held a display featuring aircraft, ships and amphibious vehicles to celebrate the milestone anniversary. It involved firing artillery across Coastal Highway in a planned 60-round display, according to the CHP incident report.

That location is unusual, military and public safety officials said. Although live-fire training is routine, it usually takes place at designated ranges within the 125,000-acre base in North San Diego County.

“It is extremely unusual for any live fire or explosives training activity to take place over an active highway,” CHP Border Division Chief Tony Coronado it said in a statement Sunday. “As a Marine myself, I have tremendous respect for our military partners, but my primary responsibility is to ensure the safety of the people of California and the officers who protect them.”

The first shot was fired at 1:46 p.m. Saturday by M777 howitzers on a beach west of eastbound Interstate 5, the incident report said. That artillery shell failed to clear the roadway and detonated mid-flight near Interstate 5 southbound, sending shrapnel flying toward the vice president’s assigned security forces. The exercise was then terminated and no more ammunition was fired.

An officer described hearing what sounded like “pebbles” falling on his CHP BMW motorcycle and other pieces hitting an empty Ford patrol car. The two officers who were driving the vehicle saw a two-inch by half-inch piece on the hood that left a small dent or scratch. Photos in incident reports show the patrol car hit by shrapnel and an officer holding the metal pieces.

The CHP called for further review of planning, communication and coordination between state and federal partners regarding the highway closure and public safety. The Marine Corps is also investigating the incident, the Washington Post reported.

Levin said he hopes the Marine Corps anniversary will bring the country together to honor the force’s 250-year history: “Our Marines deserve to be celebrated without compromising those ideals.”

A risky exercise

The accident blocked traffic for hours on the highway, which Newsom had ordered closed for the exercise. And it startled residents in San Diego and Orange counties, who are used to the noise of military exercises but didn’t expect them to be held over a civilian transportation corridor. Some photos shared of surreal highway signs warning of the live fire event.

“The artillery on the base is normal,” Levin said. “I hear it all the time from my house. But all we’ve seen is that shooting over the freeway is not the way this usually works. Common sense tells us it’s much riskier to shoot over the freeway.”

Ian Bennett, a retired Army artillery officer who served in Iraq in 2003, said military leaders plan every aspect of munitions exercises, from weapon settings and direction to range and weather conditions.

“You want to make sure everything is done safely because you don’t want to have an accident that gets in the way of all the good you’re doing,” Bennett said.

Live-fire exercises involve numerous dry-fire rehearsals, and any that involve civilians or take place in sensitive areas require extra coordination to ensure there are no surprises, he said.

“I’ve never had reason to shoot over a main road during practice,” Bennett said. “From my personal point of view, it’s not something I would consider.”

Miscommunications before the accident

San Diego leaders described miscommunications about the live-fire demonstration at Camp Pendleton in the days leading up, with some elected officials saying they were not in the know.

“If there was coordination, I would expect it would involve my office,” Blakespear said. “We weren’t even informed or invited to the event.”

Last Wednesday, the Marine Corps issued a statement assuring the public that live-fire demonstrations would be conducted at approved training ranges and follow established safety protocols.

But Levin expressed concern that evening that portions of Interstate 5 could be closed in both directions “to accommodate events related to something partisan or political.”

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.

“I planned probably a month to a month and a half and there were a lot of unknowns,” said Oceanside Assistant Police Chief John McKean. “The government doesn’t tell you much up front other than we’re going out and we want a big party.”

The day before, the word was that the highway would remain open, Bennett said. He woke up to a phone call at 6:30 a.m. Saturday to find out it would be closed.

Live-fire exercises fuel political feuds

In a statement SaturdayNewsom announced the highway closure, describing the live-fire exercise as a show of force intended to intimidate Trump’s opponents, thousands of whom demonstrated on “No Kings” protests. throughout San Diego that same day.

“The president is putting ego above responsibility with this disregard for public safety,” Newsom wrote. “Firing live rounds over a busy highway isn’t just wrong — it’s dangerous.”

All lanes in the area past the base were supposed to be closed for about four hours, McKean said, but ended up being closed for just under an hour, between about 1 and 2 p.m.

McKean, who served in the Marines, said it’s not typical but not unheard of to shoot across a roadway. Safety concerns include not only misplaced explosions but also noise distraction, he said.

“It’s more about scaring people with the powerful punch that comes from the big boom right in front of you,” he said. “I don’t think they do that often.”

Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, who represents East San Diego County, complained to H that Newsom overruled “the best trained and most experienced leaders of our Marine Corps” to close the highway and denounced the closure as “an evil publicity stunt … to fail the occasion.”

After the accidental explosion, Issa’s office said the danger had been exaggerated.

“The media has no need to amplify these comical exaggerations,” Issa spokesman Jonathan Wilcox wrote in an email to CalMatters. “*That’s* what shut down the freeway for several hours? Congressman Issa knows that a real governor – whether it’s Republican Pete Wilson or Democrat Jerry Brown – would never mislead (sic) the public or use a minor incident for some partisan gain.”

Levin acknowledged that as the minority party, Democrats have less leverage to get answers to questions about the Camp Pendleton ceasefire. But he said he will use his role on the House Appropriations Committee to keep up the pressure.

“The administration heard the safety warnings from the Marine Corps and completely ignored them,” he said. “That would mean that JD Vance and Pete Hegseth care more about their demonstration than the safety of the Marines, the safety of the communities. So we have to demand answers and accountability.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.