Judge orders US government to end National Guard deployment in Washington

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to end its months-long deployment of National Guard troops to help police the nation’s capital.

US District Judge Jia Cobb concluded that US President Donald Trump’s military takeover in Washington violates the Constitution and illegally intrudes on local officials’ authority to direct police in the district. She put her order on hold for 21 days to allow for an appeal, however.

District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued to challenge the Guard deployments. He asked the judge to bar the White House from deploying Guard troops without the mayor’s consent.

Cobb found that the president only has the power to call up the Guard “through the exercise of a specific power outlined in state law”, not for “whatever reason” he sees fit.

In August, Trump issued an executive order declaring a crime emergency in Washington. Within a month, more than 2,300 National Guard troops from eight states and the district were patrolling the city under the command of the Secretary of the Army.

Trump also deployed hundreds of federal agents to help in patrols.

  

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