US federal judge rules Trump's deployment of troops to Los Angeles illegal

LOS ANGELES -- A US federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration violated a 19th-century law when it deployed National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles in early June to quell protests against federal immigration raids.

Charles Breyer, senior judge of the US District Court for the Northern District of California, wrote in a ruling that the Trump administration violated the Posse Comitatus Act that prohibits the use of the US military to execute domestic law without approval from Congress.

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.

It said that almost three months after the National Guard was deployed to Los Angeles, 300 National Guard members remain stationed there, adding that US President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated their intention to call the troops into federal service in other cities across the country, thus creating 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.

In response to the ruling, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement: "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 US Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal to a federal appeals court regarding Breyer's ruling and sought a stay of the ruling while the appeal was being decided.

Brenner Fissell, vice president of the National Institute for Military Justice, was quoted as saying by CNN that while Breyer's ruling has no immediate impact outside of California, it's certain to be the first thing other judges who may preside over similar cases will turn to.