The Trump administration broke the law when it deployed thousands of National Guard troops to quell protests in Los Angeles in June, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.
The deployment “wilfully” violated a more than century-old statute known as the Posse Comitatus Act that bars soldiers from enforcing domestic laws, US District Judge Charles Breyer said.
His ruling comes as President Donald Trump appears set to send the National Guard into Chicago, which he falsely claimed on Tuesday is the “most dangerous city in the world”. He promised to “soon” make it safe again. Dozens of cities around the world are ranked as more dangerous than Chicago.
California Governor Gavin Newsom sued the Trump administration in June to block the use of the military in Los Angeles. In a statement on social media, Mr Newsom accused the President of trying to create a national police force with himself as the chief.
Judge Breyer's ruling is on hold until September 12, meaning the National Guard doesn't have to immediately leave Los Angeles. And the injunction applies only to the military in California, not nationally.
The judge said Mr Trump's desire to send troops to Chicago and other cities provided support for his ruling, noting that the President said at an August 27 cabinet meeting that he had the right to “do anything I want to do … if I think our country is in danger”.
Mr Trump has said troops are needed in Los Angeles to protect federal agents carrying out immigration enforcement, after large-scale immigration raids triggered protests.
“There is no question that federal personnel should be able to perform their jobs without fearing for their safety,” Judge Breyer wrote in his ruling. “But to use this as a hook to send military troops alongside federal agents wherever they go proves too much and would frustrate the very purpose of the Posse Comitatus Act.”
The Los Angeles deployment drew wide condemnation from Democrats, who said Mr Trump was using the military to stifle opposition to his hardline immigration policies.
