Trump Military Takeover Of LA Violated Federal Law, Court Rules

Topline

President Donald Trump violated federal law when he sent National Guard troops to Los Angeles earlier this year and had them perform law enforcement duties, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, a decision that could hamstring Trump’s ability to send the military into more Democratic-led cities, as Trump threatens to send troops into Chicago next.

California National Guard members stand guard at the Wilshire Federal Building on June 13 in Los Angeles, California.

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Key Facts

Judge Charles Breyer ruled Trump deploying troops to Los Angeles violated the Posse Comitatus Act (PCA), a 19th-century law that broadly prohibits the federal government from using federal troops to participate in domestic civil law enforcement.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, sued the Trump administration over it sending the National Guard to the city in response to protests against the White House’s immigration agenda, arguing that the deployment violated the law because troops played a “direct, active role in civilian law enforcement activities.”

Breyer agreed, ruling the “record is replete with evidence” of National Guard troops unlawfully performing law enforcement activities—such as by setting up perimeters and performing crowd control—and arguing the Trump administration “knowingly” violated the PCA by directing members of the military to perform unlawful acts.

The judge also struck down the Trump administration’s argument that California couldn’t bring a civil lawsuit under the PCA, because it’s a criminal statute, with Breyer ruling it was “illogical” to think Congress passed the law intending for it to only be able to be enforced “by the same federal government that would have ordered the troops to engage in domestic law enforcement.”

Breyer’s ruling blocks national guard troops in California from engaging in law enforcement activities—such as “engaging in arrests, apprehensions, searches, seizures, security patrols, traffic control, crowd control, riot control, evidence collection, interrogation, or acting as informants”—but could set a broader precedent against the Trump administration using similar tactics in other states.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly slammed Breyer’s ruling in a statement to Forbes on Tuesday, describing the decision as a “rogue judge … trying to usurp the authority of the Commander-in-Chief to protect American cities from violence and destruction” and claiming Trump “saved Los Angeles” through his military deployment.

What To Watch For

Breyer’s ruling will not take effect until Sept. 12, and the Trump administration is likely to appeal it before then. It remains to be seen how or when an appeals court could weigh in on the issue, and the dispute could ultimately go to the Supreme Court. It’s likely National Guard troops could be in more cities by that point, as Trump suggested Tuesday he intends to soon send troops into Chicago. “I will solve the crime problem fast, just like I did in DC,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Chicago will be safe again, and soon.”

Chief Critic

“While far-left courts try to stop President Trump from carrying out his mandate to Make America Safe Again, the President is committed to protecting law-abiding citizens, and this will not be the final say on the issue,” Kelly said in a statement Tuesday about the ruling.

How Does This Impact Trump’s Military Takeover Of Other Cities?

While Tuesday’s ruling specifically concerns Trump’s use of troops in Los Angeles, it could impact Trump as he tries to send National Guard troops into other Democratic-controlled cities, such as Chicago and New York. If Breyer had ruled in Trump’s favor, that would have given the administration leeway to send the military into cities with virtually unchecked authority to conduct law enforcement activities. Instead, his ruling against the administration will give other cities more legal ground to challenge any moves that the military makes in their cities, and could restrict what actions the administration chooses to take in how the National Guard troops are used. Outside of Los Angeles, the ruling could also have the most direct impact in Oakland, California, which is one of the other cities that Trump has suggested he wants to deploy troops to, purportedly to decrease crime.

Big Number

300. That’s the number of National Guard troops that are still stationed in Los Angeles, according to the Trump administration. Breyer specified in his ruling Tuesday that he is not ordering those troops to leave the city, but they just can’t perform any law enforcement activities.

How Can Trump Still Use Troops In Cities?

Breyer’s ruling doesn’t block Trump from deploying the military to cities at all, but rather just says he cannot use them for law enforcement activities. Newsom also separately challenged Trump’s authority in sending federal troops to Los Angeles in the first place and Breyer also ruled against the president on that issue, but an appeals court has allowed troops to remain in the city while the case moves forward. Even if appeals courts ultimately uphold both of Breyer’s rulings and say Trump can’t send the National Guard to cities or have them perform law enforcement activities, the president still has broad power to deploy the military to cities under the Insurrection Act. That law creates an exception to the PCA by saying in the case of an insurrection or rebellion against the government, the president can deploy the military “as he considers necessary to suppress the insurrection” or rebellion. Trump’s power under the Insurrection Act is “not infinite,” however, Joseph Nunn, an attorney at the Brennan Center for Justice, previously told Forbes. Trump could only use the military to enforce federal laws, for instance, and has no control over how state laws are enforced.

What About Washington D.c.?

The dispute over Trump’s use of federal troops and whether they can perform law enforcement activities largely doesn’t apply to him deploying troops to Washington D.C. While the National Guard largely comes under the control of the governors in the states where they’re located, Trump has control over Washington’s National Guard, and thus has much more power over how troops are used there as compared with other cities.

Key Background

Trump deployed troops to Los Angeles in June, signing an executive order that invoked the military to deal with what he described as “violent protests” against his immigration agenda. He claimed authority for the deployment under a statute of federal law that allows the president to invoke federal troops if “there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.” The deployment of thousands of troops to California sparked broad pushback and criticism from the California government, Los Angeles residents and other Democrats, and marked the first time the president had sent deployed the military in a major U.S. city. National Guard troops aided in immigration enforcement actions and briefly detained some protesters, but many of the troops were recalled in July as the protests winded down.