Deploying National Guard In Los Angeles Was Illegal, Rules Federal Judge In SF

"As the Associated Press reports, Breyer's ruling finds that administration officials "willfully" violated the law, refusing to "meaningfully coordinate with state and local officials," and that they instructed troops to perform functions that were specifically barred in their own training materials."

""These actions demonstrate that Defendants knew that they were ordering troops to execute domestic law beyond their usual authority," Breyer writes. "The evidence at trial established that Defendants systematically used armed soldiers (whose identity was often obscured by protective armor) and military vehicles to set up protective perimeters and traffic blockades, engage in crowd control, and otherwise demonstrate a military presence in and around Los Angeles.""

A federal judge found that deploying National Guard troops and Marines in Los Angeles in June violated the Posse Comitatus Act. The ruling concludes administration officials willfully disobeyed the law, declined meaningful coordination with state and local authorities, and ordered troops to carry out actions barred by their training. Evidence at trial showed armed soldiers with obscured identities and military vehicles establishing protective perimeters, traffic blockades, and performing crowd-control functions that demonstrated a military presence across the city. A three-day hearing included testimony from Major General Scott Sherman, who opposed a theatrical parade through MacArthur Park and had it rescheduled.

Read at sfist.com