The roughly 300 National Guard troops still in Los Angeles will remain there despite a judge’s ruling that President Donald Trump violated federal law by deploying them in the first place, a U.S. attorney said Tuesday.
Although Federal District Court Judge Charles Breyer, a Clinton appointee, ruled against Trump, he did not order the withdrawal of the troops.
Bill Essayli, acting U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said Breyer’s decision was “misleading”; the troops are already doing what the judge said they should be doing — guarding federal buildings and employees.
“The military will remain in Los Angeles. This is a false narrative and a misleading injunction. The military has never engaged in direct law enforcement operations here in LA. They protect our federal employees our properties so our federal agents can safely enforce federal laws in the face of the thugs being unleashed and encouraged by state and local politicians,” Essayli said in a post to X.
Breyer placed his injunction on hold for 10 days, The New York Times reported.
Breyer’s ruling comes after California sued. The state said the troops sent to Los Angeles over the summer violated federal law prohibiting military enforcement of domestic laws. The Trump administration argued the Posse Comitatus Act doesn’t apply because the troops were protecting federal officers, not enforcing laws. They say the troops were mobilized under an authority that allows the president to deploy them.
Trump federalized 4,000 members of the California National Guard and sent them to LA over the objections of Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom and city leaders. He also sent another 700 Marines amid the LA riots stemming from protests over ICE immigration operations.
Newsom took a victory lap after Breyer’s ruling despite Essayli’s assertion of the status quo.
“DONALD TRUMP LOSES AGAIN. The courts agree – his militarization of our streets and use of the military against US citizens is ILLEGAL,” Newsom said in a post to X.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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