Washington — A federal court in California ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration violated federal law when it deployed members of the National Guard and active-duty U.S. Marines to Los Angeles earlier this summer in response to protests against immigration enforcement operations.
In a 52-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer found that the president and his administration violated the Posse Comitatus Act, a 1878 law that prohibits the use of the military for domestic law enforcement. Breyer blocked the Trump administration from deploying or using the National Guard currently deployed in California, and any military troops in the state, for civilian law enforcement.
“The evidence at trial established that Defendants systematically used armed soldiers (whose identity was often obscured by protective armor) and military vehicles to set up protective perimeters and traffic blockades, engage in crowd control, and otherwise demonstrate a military presence in and around Los Angeles,” Breyer wrote. “In short, Defendants violated the Posse Comitatus Act.”
His decision restricts the use of service members to engage in arrests, apprehensions, searches, seizures and traffic and crowd control.
Breyer’s ruling came after he held a three-day trial in the case brought by California Gov. Gavin Newsom in June. Newsom sued after Mr. Trump announced that he would be deploying members of California’s National Guard to Los Angeles to quell protests in response to immigration enforcement operations taking place in the area.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
