Federal Judge Rules Trump's Los Angeles Military Deployment is Illegal

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that US President Donald Trump's deployment of American Marines into Los Angeles violated the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act that bars the US military from being used for domestic law enforcement.

In a 52-page ruling, Judge Charles Breyer of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ripped apart the Trump administration's justification for sending the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles, and concluded "there was no rebellion" in the city against the federal government that would justify such an action.

Furthermore, he argued that any acts of violence committed by demonstrators against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the city were well within the purview of civilian law enforcement and not the military.

"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," Breyer wrote. "In short, defendants violated the Posse Comitatus Act."

Breyer also pointed to statements by both Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that they intend to send National Guard troops into other cities across the country, which he warned would create "a national police force with the president as its chief."

The judge also rebuked the administration for violating its own guidelines with the troop deployments, as he said they "knowingly contradicted their own training materials, which listed twelve functions that the Posse Comitatus Act bars the military from performing."

The Posse Comitatus Act, as most recently amended in 2021, states that "whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, or the Space Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."

The judge's enjoinment of Trump's Los Angeles deployment is a major victory for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose office filed a lawsuit arguing that the president's actions were illegal.

The governor's press office celebrated Breyer's ruling shortly after it was delivered and wrote that "the people of California won much needed accountability against Trump’s illegal militarization of an American city!"