Trump's National Guard deployment in LA blocked by judge
A federal judge found Trump's response to Los Angeles protests illegal, telling the government at a hearing: "What makes America great is our Constitution."
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We’ll report live from Nashville on Friday morning for the detention hearing of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Donald Trump has new marching orders from a federal judge: Call off the National Guard.
“What makes America great is our Constitution,” U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer remarked during a hearing in which he repeatedly compared Trump’s actions to that of a monarch.
After the hearing concluded, Judge Breyer released a written order that surprised few court-watchers.
“At this early stage of the proceedings, the Court must determine whether the President followed the congressionally mandated procedure for his actions. He did not,” Breyer wrote. “His actions were illegal—both exceeding the scope of his statutory authority and violating the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. He must therefore return control of the California National Guard to the Governor of the State of California forthwith.”
The judge paused his order from taking effect until noon on Friday. In short order, the Trump administration filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit, which issued an administrative stay. The three-judge panel scheduled a hearing for Tuesday, June 17 at noon Pacific Time.
“We live in response to a monarchy”
On June 9, California and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) filed a federal lawsuit over Trump’s militarized response to Los Angeles protests over the White House’s immigration agenda.
Ignoring the governor’s objections, Trump seized control of 4,000 members of the California National Guard and deployed them along with 700 active-duty Marines to downtown Los Angeles. (The ruling specifically blocked the deployment of the California National Guard, but Breyer also found that the deployment of the Marines unconstitutional trampled upon the state’s sovereignty under the 10th Amendment.)
Earlier this week, Newsom said through his lawyers that California could not wait any longer for the judiciary to call off Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional actions.
“They must be stopped, immediately,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta wrote in an application on Tuesday, seeking immediate relief within hours of their application.
But Judge Breyer scheduled a hearing for Thursday, saying in court today that the matter called for urgency and deliberation.
Trump claimed to have the authority to deploy the troops through 10 U.S. Code § 12406, even though that statute requires a “rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States” — and cooperation with the governor. “Orders for these purposes shall be issued through the governors of the states,” the law says.
The judge emphasized: “It says ‘shall.’ Not ‘may.’ Not ‘might.’”
In a recently resurfaced clip from 2020, Trump recognized that he lacked the power to send in the National Guard.
The Justice Department’s attorney Brett Shumate argued that Trump’s rationale is unreviewable by judges, who cannot second-guess whether the president’s determinations pass muster with the statute.
Summarizing that argument, Judge Breyer said: “If the president says that there’s a rebellion, then there is a rebellion.”
“How is that different from what a monarch is?” Breyer said. “We live in response to a monarchy.”
Contrasting a system of unreviewable executive power to one where the president is bound by the law, Breyer exclaimed: “That’s the difference between a constitutional government and King George!”
“Untenable and dangerous”
The hearing falls two days before Trump ordered a military parade on the streets of Washington, D.C., and there will be global “No Kings” protests in reaction to that martial spectacle.
For nearly 150 years, the Posse Comitatus Act imposed criminal penalties to prohibit the use of the military for civilian law enforcement activities within the United States without lawful authorization. Bonta noted in a legal filing that the “inflammatory” image of troops on domestic, civilian streets creates chaos, rather than quelling it.
“Put simply, soldiers patrolling the streets of Los Angeles have not made anyone safer; indeed, the opposite is true,” Bonta wrote. “Defendants’ confrontational decision to deploy the military in a civilian city serves only to spread fear and heighten tensions in Los Angeles. If anything, the presence of the military threatens to further destabilize the community and escalate a situation that calls for cool heads and steady hands.”
Bonta noted that Trump and his Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s goal extends far beyond Los Angeles, which is only “a roadmap to follow across the country.”
Breyer found the Trump administration’s conflation of protest and rebellion troubling.
“In short, individuals’ right to protest the government is one of the fundamental rights protected by the First Amendment, and just because some stray bad actors go too far does not wipe out that right for everyone,” the judge wrote. “The idea that protesters can so quickly cross the line between protected conduct and ‘rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States’ is untenable and dangerous.”
In any event, Breyer found, Trump’s militarized response would more likely inflame than tamp down tensions.
“Federal agents and property may actually well be served by de-militarization and a concurring de-escalation of the situation,” the ruling states. “Regardless, plaintiffs and the citizens of Los Angeles face a greater harm from the continued unlawful militarization of their city, which not only inflames tensions with protesters, threatening increased hostilities and loss of life, but deprives the state for two months of its own use of thousands of National Guard members to fight fires, combat the fentanyl trade, and perform other critical functions. As discussed above, defendants’ actions also threaten to chill legitimate First Amendment expression.”
As All Rise News previously reported, Trump’s proclamation has no geographic or time limitations. Trump told reporters recently that any protests to his military parade on Saturday will be met with “very heavy force.”
But will Trump listen?? What you report is great news. Now I'll go back & finish reading your post. Also, after the manhandling of Senator Padilla -- all officers who participated must be stood down. Kristi Noem fired. (BTW, Senator Padilla was likely injured by being taken down to the floor -- I'm about his age & my knees & bones would have been damaged. As Padilla says (paraphrase) -- just imagine how other Americans are being treated/injured??? -- and likely offered NO care if they suffered broken bones..... Does Padilla have any legal recourse? Can Kristi Noem be fired for the lies in her speech?)
The judge’s summary statement should be on every shirt every damn wears walking precincts everywhere in the country, “what makes America great is our constitution.” That is ALL.