Trial begins on deployment of National Guard to Los Angeles

[struggle4progress]

1. Newsom and Trump go back to court over the National Guard

by Mikhail Zinshteyn
August 11, 2025

Did the U.S. military illegally engage in civilian law enforcement when they were deployed to Los Angeles in June under the orders of President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth?

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta say yes. Trump’s Department of Justice says no. The three-day trial to answer this question is scheduled to commence today at 10 a.m. in a California federal district court, with implications for the country as Trump continues to signal a desire to deploy troops to patrol domestic city streets ...

California’s lawyers assert evidence in their briefs, often redacted because of a court order, that the military took part in law enforcement in violation of 19th Century law called the Posse Comitatus Act. They want a judge to order the Trump administration to permanently halt those actions. The Trump Department of Justice counters that those engagements don’t count as law enforcement, but rather fall under the category of supporting immigration law enforcement agents or protecting federal buildings ...

https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/08/newsom-vs-trump-national-guard/