Source: Brennan Center for Justice
by Michael Waldman
“For years, we have warned against the danger of an unchecked president turning the military against American civilians. In an extraordinary show of force, President Trump has federalized 4,000 members of the California National Guard and deployed 300 of them, in addition to deploying 700 Marines, to quell protests in the Los Angeles area. All over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom. Why this abrupt, camera-ready escalation? … Trump’s administration is spoiling for a fight. It pops out emergency declarations like a Pez dispenser. It is also relying on flimsy legal justifications, as my colleagues have pointed out. Presidents have deployed troops to control civil unrest only 30 times before in U.S. history. The Posse Comitatus Act generally prohibits federal troops from engaging in civilian law enforcement. Soldiers are trained to defeat an enemy, not to de-escalate protests.” (06/10/25)
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/troops-streets-los-angeles