the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Oct 27, 2025
As a “test run” on Friday, October 17, a day before the 250th birthday celebration for the Corps at Camp Pendleton, in southern California, the U.S. Marines fired 30 live artillery shells carrying explosives over Interstate 5 freeway and train tracks during rush hour without public warning or safety closures. Each shell fired by an M777 howitzer weighed 100 pounds.
Because the Marines finally notified the State of California on Friday evening that they would again fire live artillery shells during the celebration the next day, the freeway was shut down to the public. This time, during the initial firings of five shells, one of them exploded mid-air, raining shrapnel on the ground. One California Highway Patrol (CHP) cruiser was hit shortly after escorting J. D. Vance to the event. More shrapnel fell next to a cop sitting on a motorcycle. After the CHP informed the Marines, they stopped firing the next 55 shells.
Luckily, no one was injured or killed in these firings.
Before the event, the Marines wrote on X that “All training events will occur on approved training ranges and comply with established safety protocols. No public highways or transportation routes will be closed.” The mid-air explosion of one of the shells was certainly in contradiction to this declaration. But this reckless act did not move the White House one iota. Government officials continued to insist that the Pendleton event was safe and that the freeway closure was unnecessary.
The Marines could have easily used other areas of Camp Pendleton that are explicitly designated for live fire, without endangering the public.
This shelling over a live freeway is very possibly a part of Trump’s broader goal. Indeed, Trump has said, during a meeting of top U.S. generals and admirals at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, on September 30, that he wants to use American cities as “training grounds” for the military against the “enemy from within.” These declarations of Trump came after he deployed roughly 7,000 National Guard and U.S. troops to Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon. He added, “It’s a war from within. Controlling the physical territory of our borders is essential for national security.”
So, the U.S. government certainly planned this dangerous show of force to coincide with “No Kings” protests, which occurred on the same day.
Whether such troops and the city invasions will be used to secure the House for the Republicans during the November elections next year remains to be seen.
But surely the U.S. government is conditioning and coercing the public for larger wars abroad.