National Guard General Flames Trump for LA Deployment Orders
The former vice chief of the National Guard has denounced President Donald Trump's deployment of troops in Los Angeles as 'bad for all Americans concerned about freedom of speech and states' rights.'
Trump made the extraordinary decision to send 2,000 troops into L.A. over the weekend as anti-ICE protests continued to intensify.
The president said federalizing troops was necessary to 'address the lawlessness' in California after protesters opposed an illegal immigration crackdown from ICE officials by blocking highways and setting self-driving cars on fire.
The president previously called in the National Guard against Black Lives Matter protesters during his first term in 2020, where the deployment request was approved by many local governors. This time however, the ruling has been strongly opposed by California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who accused Trump of 'manufacturing a crisis' and said the move was 'purposely inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.'
In a statement reported by Fox News on Sunday, retired Maj. Gen. Randy Manner, the former acting vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, condemned the president's actions.
'The president's federal deployment of the National Guard over the official wishes of a governor is bad for all Americans concerned about freedom of speech and states' rights,' Manner said. 'The governor has the authority and ability to respond to the civil disturbances with law enforcement capabilities within his state, augmented as necessary by requesting law enforcement assistance from other governors.
'There are over a million badged and trained members of law enforcement in this country for the governor to ask for help if he needs it. While this is presently a legal order, it tramples the governor's rights and obligations to protect his people. This is an inappropriate use of the National Guard and is not warranted.'
Typically the National Guard is forbidden from carrying out civilian law enforcement except in times of emergency, but this was sidestepped after Trump invoked a federal law known as the Title 10 authority under which the president can supersede the state governor as the top of the command chain during times of emergency.
The law can be invoked under three circumstances, AP reports: If the U.S. has been invaded or is in danger of being so, if there is a significant threat of rebellion against the federal government or in the event the president is unable to 'execute the laws of the United States,' through conventional means.
However, the law also states that the orders are to be executed 'through the governors of the States,' meaning it is not clear if Trump has the authority to deploy National Guard troops in California without Newsom's consent.
In an interview on Sunday, Newsom accused the president of being a 'stone-cold liar' after claiming the two of them spoke about deploying the guardsmen during a phone call on Friday.
'We talked for almost 20 minutes and he barely, this issue never came up,' Newsom told MSNBC. 'I tried to talk about L.A., he wanted to talk about all these other issues. We had a very decent conversation.'
'He never once brought up the National Guard. He's a stone-cold liar,' the governor added. 'He said he did. Stone. Cold. Liar. Never did.'
'There's no working with the president. There's only working for him, and I will never work for Donald Trump.'
Newsom said on Sunday the state of California planned to sue the Trump administration for deploying troops without their consent, in a move which has little precedent in U.S. history.
'Donald Trump has created the conditions you see on your TV tonight. He's exacerbated the conditions. He's, you know, lit the proverbial match. He's putting fuel on this fire, ever since he announced he was taking over the National Guard—an illegal act, an immoral act, an unconstitutional act,' Newsom said.
'And we're going to test that theory with a lawsuit tomorrow.'
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