How US cities have long planned for a Trump-led escalation against protests

The US president hinted at a crackdown on demonstrations long before his inauguration, and it's finally here

The White House's escalating response to street protests echoes talk before Donald Trump's inauguration of forcibly quelling resistance in urban America. Those plans are now the present.

After the use of federalized national guard units and marines in response to protests in Los Angeles, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) plans to deploy Swat-style special response teams to Seattle, Philadelphia, northern Virginia, New York and Chicago - cities led by Democrats that have long been the target of Trump's invective - before expected protests this weekend, according to reports by NBC and others.