D.C. Attorney General Sues to Stop Trump’s National Guard Deployment
Nancy Butler
President Donald J. Trump and Maj. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, commander of the 10th Mountain Division (LI), discuss an air assault and gun raid demonstration at Fort Drum, New York, on August 13. The demonstration was part of President Trump's visit to the 10th Mountain Division (LI) to sign the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019, which increases the Army's authorized active-duty end strength by 4,000 enabling us to field critical capabilities in support of the National Defense Strategy. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Thomas Scaggs) 180813-A-TZ475-009
The District of Columbia’s attorney general said Thursday that he was suing to end the deployment of the National Guard in Washington.
The lawsuit from Brian Schwalb, the district’s elected chief legal officer, alleges that the presence of troops violates the Home Rule Act, a 19th century law prohibiting the use of federal forces for domestic law enforcement.
Schwalb argues that the National Guard units deployed in D.C. are reporting through the military chain of command, making them subject to the Posse Comitatus Act, an 1878 statute that restricts the use of U.S. armed forces on America’s streets.
“The Posse Comitatus Act prohibits the military from engaging in domestic policing. Yet the Administration launched a massive, indefinite law enforcement operation in DC under direct military command. This is plainly illegal, and it threatens our democracy and civil liberties,” he wrote.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the lawsuit says that National Guard troops are in D.C. for the explicit purpose of addressing crime in violation of that law, with directions to patrol local neighborhoods while carrying firearms and to conduct law enforcement activities such as searches, seizures, and arrests.
“No American city should have the U.S. military—particularly out-of-state military who are not accountable to the residents and untrained in local law enforcement—policing its streets,” Schwalb said in announcing the lawsuit. “It’s D.C, today but could be any other city tomorrow.”
“Armed soldiers should not be policing American citizens on American soil. The forced military occupation of the District of Columbia violates our local autonomy and basic freedoms. It must end,” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb wrote on X on Thursday.
DC did not request or consent to the deployment of National Guard troops.
Yet there are 2,300 National Guardsmen on our streets in military gear, carrying weapons, and driving armored vehicles.
Their deployment to DC violates the Home Rule Act enacted by Congress 52 years ago.
The president’s use of the National Guard has come under intense legal scrutiny and pushback already. A federal judge ruled this week that Trump’s deployment of troops to Los Angeles over the summer amid ICE protests was illegal.
