Ahead of Trial, Attorney General Bonta Lays Out Case Against the Trump Administration’s Unlawful Use of Military in Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued a statement ahead of trial beginning tomorrow at 10:00 AM PT in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in California’s lawsuit challenging the unlawful use of federalized California National Guard troops for civilian law enforcement in Los Angeles in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. Attorney General Bonta and California Governor Gavin Newsom sued the Trump Administration in June after President Trump sent federalized California National Guard members and Marines into Los Angeles communities to patrol and engage in other law enforcement activity prohibited by the Posse Comitatus Act. He did so over the objections of the Governor, against the wishes of local law enforcement, and for reasons unsupported by conditions on the ground.

“Two months ago, the federal government deployed military troops to the streets of Los Angeles for the purposes of political theater and public intimidation. This dangerous move has no precedent in American history, erodes trust between the American military and the public, and pulls our servicemembers away from their vital role in fighting wildfires and tackling the fentanyl epidemic,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Today, 300 federalized California National Guard members remain tools in the President’s game, and the Trump Administration seeks to advance the argument that there should be no limits on what federal troops can do. But that is not what our law allows. We begin trial with the facts and the law on our side – and we look forward to making our case in court.”

At trial, California will argue that the Trump Administration’s decision to embed federalized California National Guard members and Marines within a domestic law-enforcement agency — the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency— and to deploy them widely throughout the state, all while asserting there are no limits on what those federal troops can do, is unprecedented and illegal. In attempting to justify the unjustifiable, the Trump Administration ignores both the clear tests that courts have established over decades for interpreting the Posse Comitatus Act and determining what conduct violates the Act, as well as career military officers’ understanding of that Act. 

California will show that the Trump Administration has consistently violated the law in its orders to the federalized California National Guard and Marines to engage in activities that the Posse Comitatus Act prohibits, clearly demonstrating that the Trump Administration has violated the Act under three applicable tests:

• The Trump Administration is making direct, active use of military personnel to execute the law, including through the provision of armed perimeter support and blockades, apprehension and detention of civilians, and in the weeks following the June mobilization orders participating in an estimated three out of every four immigration raids in Los Angeles and surrounding areas. 
• The Trump Administration’s use of military personnel clearly ventures into the territory of civilian law enforcement by ordering federalized National Guard soldiers to participate in law enforcement operations that have nothing to do with the military.
• Under the Trump Administration’s command, California National Guard members have subjected civilians to the exercise of coercive military power by preventing Californians’ freedom of movement through their law enforcement activities and being forced to act as a “deterrent.”

California seeks a court order identifying these acts as violations of the Posse Comitatus Act and permanently enjoining the Trump Administration from engaging in the same or similar activity in the future.

Attorney General Bonta is committed to holding President Trump and his administration accountable for overreaching their authority under the law and infringing on Californians’ constitutional rights. Separate from this lawsuit, Attorney General Bonta led a multistate coalition in filing an amicus brief in support of a court order blocking ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from engaging in unconstitutional and unlawful stops of Los Angeles residents during immigration sweeps.   

Copies of California’s supplemental brief and reply brief in support of its motion for a preliminary injunction are available here and here, respectively. You can listen to the trial beginning tomorrow at 10:00 AM PT here.