Trump Tries To Grab 'Em By The Posse Comitatus

He's pulling the fire alarm again.

If there was any doubt that the president intends to use the military to occupy American cities, the administration has now dispelled it. Marines and troops in the California National Guard are already being used to arrest people in gross violation of the Posse Comitatus Act.

There’s also the fact that Trump shouts that he intends to violate the ban on using the military for civilian law enforcement every time someone sticks a microphone in his face.

And now they’re even announcing their intent to violate the law in court filings.

California Punches Back

Over the weekend, President Trump federalized 4,000 members of the California National Guard. The declaration cited 10 USC § 12406, which authorizes the president to “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 [federal] laws.” The premise here is that protests against ICE amount to rebellion that impedes the government from executing the law.

This is, of course, horseshit. Brief spasms of violence by a couple hundred people do not amount to rebellion — no, not even if they’re throwing mangos at ICE thugs. (Yes, the government actually whined in their filings about being pelted with fruit.) And Angelinos certainly know how to riot when the mood strikes them! They’ve been known to torch a car or two when the Lakers win the championship. But now the Trump administration is pretending that a few burnt-out Waymos are evidence of the complete breakdown of law and order. They also claim that Governor Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass refused to protect ICE. In reality, the LAPD came in and dispersed the crowds — in typically violent LAPD fashion — allowing ICE to go back to the important business of arresting seamstresses and landscapers.

Before one single soldier’s boot touched the ground, Trump claimed credit for saving the city from a migrant invasion. And he upped the ante by dispatching 700 marines to “protect” ICE and federal buildings.

See you in court

On Monday, California sued the Trump administration to block federalization of its militia. The state argued that the invocation of § 12406 is a nullity, both because the necessary preconditions (invasion, rebellion, or breakdown of the rule of law) have not been met, and because the statute requires that “orders for these purposes shall be issued through the governors of the States.” Newsom was never consulted and publicly objected.

The complaint also warned that “Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act is imminent, if not already underway.”