Always looking to provoke a crisis, Donald Trump has federalized 2,000 soldiers of the California National Guard against the wishes of the state’s governor to put down a rebellion in Los Angeles that doesn’t exist. And Trump is acting counter to federal law in doing so, which is no surprise for him.
After demonstrators gathered in L.A. to protest ICE raids, some idiots in the crowd threw rocks at the immigration law enforcement officers. That’s a crime and is not free speech. But the president used the sporadic violence, which was quickly quelled, to overstep his legal authority.
On Saturday, he issued a directive claiming: “To the extent that protests or acts of violence directly inhibit the execution of the laws, they constitute a form of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.” Then, latching on to his own word “rebellion,” he invoked a federal statute, 10 U.S. Code § 12406, covering the National Guard.
The law is brief. It says that “Whenever 1) the United States is invaded or is in danger of invasion by a foreign nation; 2) there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States; or 3) the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States; the President may call into Federal service members and units of the National Guard of any State in such numbers as he considers necessary to repel the invasion, suppress the rebellion, or execute those laws.”
There’s no invasion, there’s no rebellion and ICE is able to carry out its functions. And there is no lawlessness in the streets of L.A. that can’t be contained by the local L.A. County sheriff’s department, which has almost 10,000 sworn and armed deputies and the LAPD, which has almost 9,000 sworn and armed cops. If those law enforcement professionals need help, California Gov. Gavin Newsom could activate the National Guard.
But Newsom didn’t call up the Guard for backup because the soldiers weren’t needed. That Trump went around Newsom, who he “cleverly” calls “Newscum,” is something that hasn’t been done in 60 years, when Lyndon Johnson federalized the Alabama National Guard in 1965 because segregationist Gov. George Wallace wouldn’t protect civil rights demonstrators.
There, Wallace was trying to defy the federal courts and the federal government. This is nothing like that. Trump says “It’s about law and order,” but he’s the one who is going against the law and against regular order. And he’s also talking about bringing in active duty Marines from nearby Camp Pendleton.
That is also against the law, 18 U.S. Code § 1385. This statue is just a single sentence: “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.”
“Posse comitatus,” or “posse” for short, are non-law enforcement persons acting as such. The military cannot be so used on the word of even the president.
Trump should relent and demobilize the Guardsmen he wrongly brought into L.A. and let local and state officials secure the streets.
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