A US federal judge decided that the Trump administration infringed a 19th-century law when it deployed National Guard soldiers and Marines to Los Angeles in June to quell demonstrations against federal immigration roundups.
US Senior Judge Charles Breyer of the Northern District Court of California ruled that the deployment violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the use of the military to enforce domestic law without a congressional mandate, as reported by Xinhua news agency.
The ruling bars the Trump administration from “deploying, ordering, instructing, training, or using the National Guard currently deployed in California, and any military troops heretofore deployed in California, to execute the laws.”
“There were indeed protests in Los Angeles, and some individuals engaged in violence. Yet there was no rebellion, nor was civilian law enforcement unable to respond to the protests and enforce the law,” wrote the ruling.
The ruling noted that close to three months since the National Guard was initially deployed to Los Angeles, 300 were still stationed there. It further quoted statements by President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth making plans for troop mobilizations in other cities, thus essentially establishing a "national police force with the president as its chief."
California Governor Gavin Newsom, one of the plaintiffs, said in a statement: “Today, the court sided with democracy and the Constitution. No president is a king — not even Trump — and no president can trample a state’s power to protect its people.”
“Trump’s attempt to use federal troops as his personal police force is illegal, authoritarian, and must be stopped in every courtroom across this country,” the statement added.
The White House reacted forcefully, nonetheless. Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly reacted: "Once again, a rogue judge is trying to usurp the authority of the Commander-in-Chief to protect American cities from violence and destruction."
The Justice Department has already appealed and is asking for Breyer's order to be suspended pending review of the case.
Brenner Fissell, a vice president of the National Institute for Military Justice, said in an interview with CNN that while Breyer's decision now affects only California, "it's sure to be the first thing other judges who happen to hear similar cases will go to."
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