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Federal court hits out at Trump: He turned the military into a political police!
A federal court in California has ruled that President Donald Trump's administration violated federal law when it decided to send National Guard troops and active-duty Marines to Los Angeles in response to protests that erupted this summer against immigration enforcement operations.
In a 52-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled that President Trump and his administration have violated the Posse Comitatus Act, an 1878 law that prohibits the use of the military for law enforcement purposes within the U.S. With his ruling, the judge bars the use of the National Guard or any other military force in California for civilian duties such as arrests, detentions, searches, seizures, or traffic and crowd control.
The ban applies only to the Trump administration's use of the National Guard in California and does not apply nationwide. It also does not require the Department of Defense to withdraw the 300 National Guard members still stationed in Los Angeles. The judge emphasized that the administration is free to use troops only in accordance with the limitations set by law, including the protection of federal property.
The decision takes effect on September 12 at noon, to give the administration time to appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The ruling came after a three-day trial that followed a lawsuit filed in June by California Governor Gavin Newsom, who challenged the president's order to deploy the National Guard to Los Angeles to quell protests. Trump had used a federal law known as Title 10 to take control of the California National Guard and engage it in the protection of federal property.
In June, Breyer temporarily suspended the administration's decision, returning control of the National Guard to the state of California, but a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals found that Trump had acted legally through another provision of federal law.
Breyer's latest ruling focused specifically on the Posse Comitatus Act. He wrote that the evidence clearly showed that the administration had systematically used armed soldiers, often unidentifiable because of protective gear, and military vehicles to set up barricades and control crowds in and around Los Angeles. This, he said, constituted a direct violation of the law.
While the Pentagon has withdrawn about 700 Marines from the area, 300 National Guard troops remain deployed. Breyer noted that President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have stated their intention to deploy forces to other cities, including Oakland and San Francisco, creating, he said, a national police structure under the president's command.
The judge characterized the administration's actions as a serious attempt to use the military to enforce federal immigration and drug laws in a manner prohibited by U.S. law. He rejected the administration's claims that the president has a constitutional right to override the Posse Comitatus Act, saying such an interpretation is not supported by legal history or Supreme Court precedent, let alone logic.
Breyer accused Trump administration officials of trying to usurp the powers of Congress, stressing that their claims of "constitutional exceptions" are actually a play on words to circumvent the law and the authority of the legislature.
In the end, the judge granted California's request to bar the National Guard from participating in immigration operations in support of federal agents, noting that the administration cannot use the safety of federal staff as an excuse to deploy military troops in every city where its officials are located.
Currently, over 2,200 National Guard troops are in Washington, DC, most of whom have been sent by Republican governors, in a context where President Trump is warning of the expansion of the military presence in major cities as part of a national campaign against illegal immigration, violent crime and civil unrest. /Pamphlet
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