District judge Jia Cobb said the takeover was an unlawful intrusion on local officials’ authority
District of Columbia judge Jia Cobb has ordered the US administration to halt its deployment of National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., reported the Associated Press.
Cobb determined that the deployment initiated by US president Donald Trump in August was an unlawful intrusion on the authority of local officials over law enforcement in D.C. She said that while Trump was authorized to protect federal functioning and property, he could not unilaterally deploy National Guard troops from DC or other states as he saw fit.
D.C. attorney general Brian Schwalb had filed the suit, which called for the White House to be prevented from sending troops without mayoral approval while the suit was ongoing. Schwalb issued a call to send the troops home after Cobb’s decision was released.
“Normalizing the use of military troops for domestic law enforcement sets a dangerous precedent, where the President can disregard states’ independence and deploy troops wherever and whenever he wants — with no check on his military power,” Schwalb said in a statement published by AP News.
According to Schwalb’s office, troops from out of D.C. were acting as a federal military police force in the district without permission, clashing with residents and siphoning from local police resources.
However, the White House contended that Trump was legally authorized to carry out the deployment. Government lawyers argued that Congress granted Trump the power to run the D.C. National Guard.
“This lawsuit is nothing more than another attempt — at the detriment of DC residents — to undermine the President’s highly successful operations to stop violent crime in DC,” spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement published by AP News.
Trump has sent National Guard troops into Los Angeles and has attempted to deploy them in Chicago and Portland. The Supreme Court is currently examining the administration’s emergency appeal to send troops into Chicago over the president's efforts to curb immigration.
