Judge says Trump administration’s use of US military in Los Angeles violated federal law

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated federal law by using the US military to help carry out law enforcement activities in and around Los Angeles this summer.

US District Judge Charles Breyer concluded that Trump’s use of thousands of federalized California National Guard members and US Marines to provide protection to federal agents during an aggressive immigration crackdown in the Los Angeles area ran afoul of the Posse Comitatus Act, a 19th Century law that generally prohibits the use of troops for domestic law enforcement purposes.

The ruling from Breyer, who held a multi-day trial last month over Trump’s use of the military in the state, comes as the president is weighing whether to send National Guard members to other cities, including ones in California and Illinois.

“President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have stated their intention to call National Guard troops into service in other cities across the country,” Breyer wrote in his 52-page opinion, “… thus creating a national police force with the President as its chief.”