On Saturday morning, the coastal town of San Clemente became ground zero in the battle between California and the Trump administration over a pre-planned live-fire artillery round shot over the freeway during a military event at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
A 17-miles stretch of Interstate 5 was periodically closed through Camp Pendleton, and the northern side of the closure was just outside San Clemente’s city limits.
Mid-morning on Saturday the southbound 5 Freeway grounded to a halt about half a mile ahead of the El Camino Real exit, the second-to-last exit before the closure during the previously announced interstate closure.
The previous three freeway exits — Avenida Palizada, Avenida Pico and Avenida Vista Hermosa — all had flashing freeways signs warning of the impending closure.
Motorists who were brave or foolish enough to venture beyond Avenida Palizada endured a minimum of 30 minutes trying to exit the freeway.
Some vehicles on the interstate illegally made nearly 90-degree turns on the freeway heading southbound to break through the bottleneck by exiting the vacant El Camino Real onramp for about 15 minutes. A California Highway Patrol officer eventually rode up the ramp and shut off access.
San Clemente City Councilmember Mark Enmeier said that the freeway closure came “completely out of the blue” and that he found out about it just as many residents did on Saturday morning when the Orange County Sheriff’s Department announced it publicly on Instagram.
“There was no coordination with any local officials on this whatsoever,” Enmeier said. Or if there was, he said, “I was not informed of it.”
To Enmeier, the live-ammunition event is a “show of force on behalf of a few individuals” more than likely intentionally timed to this day of widespread protest. Plus, he said the freeway closure is a source of needless financial strain.
“Not only are we paying as a taxpayer for these shows of force, we’re also losing money,” Enmeier said. “I mean, this is a major arterial road, and there’s no other way down to San Diego from Orange County without taking an hour-and-a-half detour.”
The traffic did not seem to nit business at the SC Cafe in San Clemente, said cafe owner Joey Abi-Loutfi.
““I heard about the traffic from the news a day earlier and wasn’t exactly sure what to think,” Abi-Loutfi said. “That’s the give and take of owning a restaurant right next to a freeway ramp.”
Abi-Loutfi said he’s not thrilled about this shutdown, though, aside from slower-than-usual business, due to the government’s show of force in firing off weapons.
“What a great use of funding,” he said with a sarcasm thicker than his restaurant’s chunky salsa.
By mid-afternoon, it appeared motorists had gotten word lf the closure and conditions around San Clemente had eased.
By the 91 and 15 freeways — the inland alternative to the 5 between Los Angeles and San Diego — were jammed.
Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized the White House for failing to coordinate or share safety information ahead of the Marine Corps 250th anniversary celebration featuring Vice President JD Vance.
California said it closed the 5 for safety reasons.
Administration officials said the Pendleton event was perfectly safe and that a freeway closure was not needed.
