Recommendations of the Editorial team
While US President Donald Trump continues to threaten to send national troops to Chicago in order to drive his expansion of power in prominent democratically governed cities, a federal judge has decided, that his commitment of the military in Los Angeles in June violated the posse comitatus act.
Federal judge condemned procedure
On Tuesday, Charles Breyer, judge at the Northern District of California, judged that the Trump government had “violated the posse comitatus act”. This law prohibits the use of the US military as a means of enforcing civil law. Hundreds of members of the National Guard and later US Marines had been sent to Los Angeles to take protests that were directed against raids and arrests from the immigration authority ICE.
“The congress made a clear position in 1878 when he passed the Posse comitatus act and banned the use of the US military for enforcing domestic law,” wrote Breyer. “There were actually protests in Los Angeles, and some people committed. But there was no rebellion, and the civilian police were not unable to react to the protests and enforce the right … in short: the defendants violated the posse comitatus act.”
Breyer added that Trump and Minister of Defense Pete Hegseth “explained their intention to call national guards in other cities in the federal service – including Oakland and San Francisco, here in the Northern District of California – and thus a national police group with the president as their boss.”
A few hours before the verdict, Trump had indicated Trump on Truth Social that he wanted to continue his measures against democratically ruled cities – so far Los Angeles and Washington, DC – in Chicago.
Threats against Chicago
“Chicago is by far the worst and most dangerous city in the world. Governor Pritzker urgently needs help, he just doesn’t know yet. I will quickly solve the crime problem, as I did in DC. Chicago will be safe again, and soon,” wrote the president.
The announcement was followed by a particularly violent laboratory day weekend in Chicago, in which 54 people were shot.
The governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, rejected any form of interference by the federal government. “Nobody from the government-neither the president nor someone below him-contacted anyone in my administration or me. So it is clear that they are planning in secret-well that it would be an invasion with US troops if they actually do it,” he said on Sunday at face the nation on CBS.
“We hope that they do not send troops together with ICE,” added Pritzker. “If so, they land pretty quickly, because that’s illegal.”
With the judgment of Breyers against the Trump government, Pritzker and other democratic states who want to contest Trump’s attempt to take over local police powers can expect further favorable decisions.