The plan involved Marines firing high explosive rounds from M777 Howitzers — artillery used to launch shells in wars in Afghanistan and Ukraine — into designated ranges.
The CHP is not aware of live fire occurring over Interstate 5 in the past, a spokesperson said.
“Firing live rounds over a busy highway isn’t just wrong — it’s dangerous,” Newsom said in a news release issued just after 7 a.m.
The report said that “an artillery round failed to clear the roadway and detonated midflight.
But after the artillery round exploded earlier than intended, raining debris down on the CHP, “the exercise was terminated and no additional munitions were fired,” the incident report said.
At Camp Pendleton, the celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary was expected to be a lively affair. S. Marine Corps that featured a real-time maritime and aerial beach assault simulation.
The plan called for Marines to fire high explosive rounds into specified ranges from M777 Howitzers, which are artillery used to launch shells in the wars in Afghanistan and Ukraine. Last week, federal officials stated that no public highways would be closed and insisted that “all safety precautions be in place” during the process.
Concerns were raised by California officials, however, regarding the live rounds being fired over Interstate 5, which connects the beach where the “landing” was occurring to the remainder of the expansive military facility.
Then, according to the governor’s office, the Marines conducted a test run on Friday night without informing state authorities, firing artillery rounds over the I-5 while drivers were on the freeway. The live video of the fire was taken by the California Department of Transportation.
The morning of Saturday, Gov. An estimated 15,000 people attended the event, which featured a speech by Vice President JD Vance and saw Gavin Newsom announce the closure of a 17-mile section of the interstate that day, from just south of San Clemente to just north of Oceanside.
The artillery demonstration was forced to end early after an artillery round exploded in midair, much earlier than planned, and a cruiser parked on an Interstate 5 onramp was struck by falling shrapnel, according to the California Highway Patrol. The disclosures brought up fresh concerns regarding safety and the wisdom of firing live ammunition over a freeway during the ceremony, even though no one was harmed.
The Marines declared they were looking into the incident.
The following sequence of events resulted in a turbulent day filled with confusion, traffic jams, and military pride.
The third Wednesday.
A widely circulated report claimed that the White House planned to close Interstate 5 in order to launch missiles from Navy warships into the Marine Corps’ 125,000-acre base, Camp Pendleton, located along the northern San Diego County coast.
Gov. In their social media response to the report, Gavin Newsom’s press office referred to the concept as “an absurd show of force.”. “”.
Late on Wednesday evening, the Marine Corps announced on X that no public roads or transit routes would be closed and that it planned to hold a “live-fire” demonstration at Camp Pendleton on Saturday.
The statement added that the White House would record the demonstration for a nationwide prime-time broadcast in November and that “all training events will occur on approved training ranges and comport with established safety protocols.”. Nine.
Thursday. .
“No ordnance will be fired from a Navy ship to the shore,” the Marine Corps declared. According to the Marine Corps, the demonstration would entail M777 Howitzers firing high explosive rounds into predetermined ranges.
The Marine Corps has been using the M777 Howitzer since 2005. It fires 155 mm artillery rounds, which have a diameter of roughly 61 inches. Every round has a weight of about 100 pounds.
According to an Associated Press article, one of the most requested artillery weapons in the conflict in Ukraine is the 155 mm Howitzer. Made up of a detonating fuse, projectile, propellant, and primer, each round is roughly two feet long and functions similarly to a very large bullet.
According to the AP, the rounds can be made to pierce armor, carry highly explosive material, use precision guided systems, or produce high fragmentation.
Typically, the M777 Howitzer’s range is between 15 and 25 miles.
As is customary at the base, the Marine Corps confirmed Thursday that the exercise would take place on training ranges rather than over Interstate 5, according to Newsom’s office.
Due to the new guarantees, state officials who had been considering closing the freeway themselves backed off of their plans by Thursday morning.
However, according to Newsom’s office, the federal government ordered the cancellation of Amtrak and Metrolink train service along tracks that run parallel to Interstate 5 through Camp Pendleton that afternoon.
Friday.
From Red Beach, state officials watched the M777 Howitzers fire shells over Interstate 5 on Friday.
Later, a Marine spokesperson claimed that the firing was a dress rehearsal.
According to the statement, “M777 artillery pieces have historically been fired during routine training from land-based artillery firing points west of the I-5 into impact areas east of the interstate within existing safety protocols and without the need to close the route.”. This is a well-established and secure procedure. “.”.
Additionally, the event organizers requested late Friday that the governor’s office post the following message on electronic bulletin boards along Interstate 5: “Overhead fire in progress.”. (The actual text that was displayed on Saturday read, “Live weapons over freeway. “.”.
Later, in a statement, CHP Border Division Chief Tony Coronado stated that “any live-fire or explosive training activity over an active freeway is extremely rare.”. “.”.
“I have a great deal of respect for our military partners because I am a Marine myself, but my top priority is to make sure that the people of California and the officers who defend them are safe,” Coronado stated.
A spokesperson stated that the CHP is not aware of any previous live fires that have occurred over Interstate 5.
In reference to a report that the military did, in fact, intend to fire live artillery over Interstate 5 after all, Newsom on X described the plans as “a profoundly absurd show of force that could put Californians directly in harm’s away” late Friday night. “.”.
Saturday.
Early on Saturday, Newsom’s office released a statement stating that federal authorities had notified state officials that live-fire operations would take place at 1:30 p.m. M.
In the morning, Caltrans and Newsom’s office declared that a 17-mile section of Interstate 5 would be closed during the protest “due to safety concerns.”. “.”.
Despite being temporary, the closure caused traffic on the freeways, which prolonged the time it took to get from L to LA. A. An hour longer than usual, the trip to San Diego took three hours.
“It’s not only wrong, but it’s dangerous to fire live rounds over a busy highway,” Newsom stated in a press release shortly after seven in the morning. m.
When Newsom closed the 5 Freeway, the White House’s Rapid Response Team on X chastised him. “The Marines repeatedly stated that there are no public safety concerns with today’s exercises,” the post, which was published shortly after 11 a.m., stated, adding that neither the White House nor the Marines asked him to do so. m.
At 12:51 p.m. A. Vance was accompanied to the Camp Pendleton event by a protective services detail from the California Highway Patrol. Following Vance’s arrival, the detail was instructed to wait at the on-ramp to the southbound Interstate 5 on Las Pulgas Road.
Around 1:15 p.m., the CHP broke up traffic on I-5 from just south of San Clemente to just north of Oceanside. A.
1:46 p.m. m. According to a CHP incident report that the Los Angeles Times was able to obtain, an artillery round fired by the M777 Howitzer was fired northward from White’s Beach. The report stated that “an artillery round detonated midflight after failing to clear the roadway.”. dot. Shrapnel from the explosion was directed at the CHP protective services detail.
Metal shrapnel damaged a CHP patrol car that was not occupied. The patrol car was hit by shrapnel that measured roughly 2 inches by 2½ inches. A “small dent/scratch” was reported to have been left on the car’s hood by the shrapnel.
A CHP motorcycle officer discovered a piece of shrapnel near his motorcycle that was about an inch long and half an inch wide after hearing debris fall on it and in the vicinity of three feet from him. The motorcycle was in perfect condition.
Nobody got hurt.
On a live video feed of the protest, Vance could be seen watching from a vantage point that overlooked the coastline. An announcer said, “Thuuunderrrr,” after hearing a rat-a-tat-tat on the microphone. The firearms recoil. As the ground trembles, a 1-5-5 mm shell rips through the atmosphere. The dot. Rain is coming in from the steel. “.”.
However, after saying a few more things, the announcer mostly stopped talking.
According to the CHP incident report, the Marines initially intended to fire roughly 60 artillery rounds starting at 1:46 p.m. over five minutes. M. up until 1:51 p.m. A.
However, according to the incident report, “the exercise was terminated and no additional munitions were fired” after the artillery round detonated earlier than planned, showering the CHP with debris.
In an interview with The Times, Capt. According to First Marine Expeditionary Force spokesperson Gregory Dreibelbis, the Marines opened an investigation after learning that a 155 mm artillery round may have detonated in the air outside the impact zone.
To protect the safety of fellow citizens, the demonstration underwent a thorough safety evaluation and intentional redundancy layers, according to the statement. “We are dedicated to identifying the underlying cause of the incident and using the results in subsequent missions. “”.
“Marines fire artillery at Camp Pendleton almost every week,” Dreibelbis said. In order to affect our enemy, he claimed that systems like the M777 “are designed to fire over the heads of friendly forces.”. Marines have used this system in combat operations, like in Syria, in a safe and efficient manner, and we trust it with our lives. “”.
Vance and President Trump were charged by Newsom on X with endangering “lives to put on a show.”. “.”.
