By Fred Shuster
City News Service
LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A federal appeals court unanimously ruled today to allow President Donald Trump’s control of California National Guard troops in Los Angeles to continue uninterrupted while the case is litigated despite the protests of Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The order follows a hearing Tuesday in which a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco appeared dubious of Newsom’s argument that Trump had failed to sufficiently justify his decision to federalize and deploy 4,000 National Guard members and 700 U.S. Marines to protect federal buildings and support immigration authorities in Los Angeles.
The panel found that Trump acted within the law when he called the troops into federal service for 60 days “to protect federal personnel performing federal functions and to protect federal property.” However, the court disagreed with the Trump administration’s primary argument that the president’s decision to federalize members of the California National Guard is insulated from judicial review.
In granting Trump’s emergency motion for a stay pending appeal, the appellate court concluded that it is likely that Trump lawfully exercised his authority to federalize the National Guard when the president “is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.”
In other words, the panel found in favor of Trump’s argument that the civil unrest in downtown Los Angeles rose to such a level that local law enforcement was unable to protect federal immigration officers while they were carrying out government-ordered arrests and raids, and military deployment was necessary.
The court said the decision ultimately stems from June 6, when a group of protesters tried to prevent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials from operating in Los Angeles by throwing objects at ICE vehicles. Later that evening, protesters gathered at ICE’s enforcement and removal operations building downtown.
According to the case background, protesters “pinned down” several federal protective service officers and threw “concrete chunks, bottles of liquid, and other objects” at the officers.
The protesters also used “large rolling commercial dumpsters as a battering ram to breach the parking garage gate and damage federal property,” the order says. The Los Angeles Police Department managed to force the protesters to disperse, “but the federal building had been heavily vandalized,” an appeals judge wrote.
The next day, on June 7, protesters continued to interfere with federal enforcement operations at a Homeland Security Investigations office in Paramount, and continued to attack federal property, the document states. In a confrontation that lasted over seven hours, the protesters blocked traffic and used shopping carts to barricade the street.
In response to incidents that included protesters throwing “mortar-style fireworks” and other items, including a Molotov cocktail at deputies, burning a vehicle and vandalizing property, Trump signed a memorandum on June 7, calling into federal service at least 2,000 members of the National Guard pursuant to his authority, the court said.
As demonstrations continued, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a second memorandum, calling into service an additional 2,000 members of the California National Guard for 60 days, for a total of 4,000 Guard members.
The same day, Newsom and state Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit in San Francisco federal court against Trump, Hegseth and the U.S. Department of Defense, alleging violations of the U.S. Constitution and the president’s authority, not only because the takeover of the Guard occurred without the consent or input of the governor, as federal law requires, but also because, Newsom argued, it was unwarranted.
On June 10, plaintiffs moved for a temporary restraining order to restore control of the National Guard to Newsom because, among other things, troops on the streets of Los Angeles “further de-stabilize the community,” Newsom argued.
Plaintiffs also urged that the deployment of the National Guard “diverts necessary state resources” because Guard members help fight forest fires, stop drug trafficking and protect against cyber threats.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer granted the temporary restraining order after a hearing on June 12, finding that military on the street “inflames tensions with protesters,” and ordered control of the Guard restored to Newsom by noon the following day.
Lawyers for Trump immediately filed a notice of appeal and moved for an emergency stay pending appeal with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. An hourlong hearing took place Tuesday, but no decision was immediately reached. Later, the court blocked Breyer’s order, leaving the Guard under Trump’s control.
Breyer, the younger brother of retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, had determined that the National Guard deployment was illegal and violated the Tenth Amendment, which defines power between federal and state governments, and exceeded Trump’s statutory authority. Another hearing before Breyer is scheduled for Friday.