The District of Columbia’s attorney general said Thursday that he was suing to end the deployment of the National Guard in Washington, two days after a federal judge ruled the Trump administration’s use of troops in Los Angeles had been unlawful.
The lawsuit from Brian Schwalb, the district’s elected chief legal officer, alleges that the presence of troops violates a 19th century law prohibiting the use of federal forces for domestic law enforcement.
Schwalb argues that the National Guard units
The District of Columbia’s attorney general said Thursday that he was suing to end the deployment of the National Guard in Washington, two days after a federal judge ruled the Trump administration’s use of troops in Los Angeles had been unlawful.
The lawsuit from Brian Schwalb, the district’s elected chief legal officer, alleges that the presence of troops violates 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 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.”
Write to Louise Radnofsky at louise.radnofsky@wsj.com
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