a day ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Trial starts over Trump's deployment of National Guard to Los Angeles during protests
A deputy commanding general testified on Monday that military forces called in to help with immigration raids in Los Angeles were allowed to take some police actions despite a federal law that prohibits the president from using the military as a domestic police force.
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Major General Scott Sherman said military tapped to help with domestic operations can protect federal property and federal agents in their mission of carrying out federal operations.
He said they could take certain police actions, such as setting up a security perimeter outside federal facilities, if a commander on the ground felt unsafe.
Sherman testified at the start of a three-day trial over whether US President
Donald Trump's administration violated the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act when it deployed National Guard soldiers and US Marines to Los Angeles following June protests over immigration raids.
On Monday, Trump said he was
deploying the National Guard across Washington and taking over the city's police department in the hopes of reducing crime, even as the mayor has noted that crime is falling in the nation's capital.
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The trial in San Francisco could set a precedent for how Trump can deploy the guard in the future in California or other states.
