California Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday praised a federal judge’s decision that found President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to California violated federal law.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled that Trump’s order sending the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles violated the Posse Comitatus Act. The Trump administration is expected to appeal the ruling.
In a statement, Newsom said: “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. As the court today ruled, Trump is breaking the law by ‘creating a national police force with the President as its chief.’ That’s exactly what we’ve been warning about for months.”
He continued: “There is no rampant lawlessness in California, and in fact, crime rates are higher in Republican-led states. 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.”
