Marines are headed to Los Angeles as the Trump administration ratchets up tensions that threaten to turn largely peaceful protests there into a full-blown crisis. It’s a rare and aggressive step to involve active-duty troops in civilian law enforcement activities.

A defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, called the activation of the Marines a “provocation” designed to foster to a “manufactured crisis.”

Experts question the legality of the mobilization of the Marines.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump took the already extraordinary action of calling up more than 2,000 National Guard troops to tamp down demonstrations in California. In doing so, he exercised rarely used federal powers that bypassed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s authority.

He followed it up two days later with an even more extreme move. While it is unclear under what authority Trump and the Defense Department did so, U.S. Northern Command activated 700 Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, assigned to Twentynine Palms, California. They are being shipped out to support Task Force 51 — a deployable command post used in crisis response — “who are protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area,” according to a statement issued by NORTHCOM.

“The level of escalation is completely unwarranted, uncalled for, and unprecedented — mobilizing the best in........

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