Judge Rules Trump’s Deployment of National Guard in DC Illegal

AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb ruled on Thursday that the Pentagon’s deployment of National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. was illegal.

The federal judge for the District of Columbia, stayed the effect of her order until December 11 while the matter is appealed. Politico’s Kyle Cheney was among the first to report on the bombshell ruling.

More than 2000 National Guard troops have been deployed to D.C. since August, assisting local law enforcement in curbing crime.

The judge concluded the federal government overstepped its legal authority.

Cobb wrote:

First, the DOD Defendants have exceeded the bounds of their authority under Title 49 of the D.C. Code, and thus acted contrary to law, in deploying the DCNG for non-military, crime-deterrence missions in the absence of a request from the city’s civil authorities,” the opinion reads. Second, these Defendants lack statutory authority under 32 U.S.C. § 502 to support their request for assistance from out-of-state National Guards and their actions in calling those Guards to the District. The Court finds that the District’s exercise of sovereign powers within its jurisdiction is irreparably harmed by Defendants’ actions in deploying the Guards, and that the balance of equities and public interest weigh in the District’s favor.

D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced last month he was suing the administration over the deployment of troops to the city. It’s one of a number of legal challenges the president has faced over his mobilization of federal forces. Trump has also deployed Guard troops to cities like Los Angeles and Chicago, both of which have challenged the deployment orders.

“Armed soldiers should not be policing American citizens on American soil. The forced military occupation of the District of Columbia violates our local autonomy and basic freedoms. It must end,” he wrote at the time.

This is a breaking story and it has been updated.