Judge rules Trump illegally deployed National Guard and must return oversight to California

A federal judge has ruled that President Donald Trump acted illegally in deploying the National Guard to address protests in the Los Angeles area.

In a ruling issued Thursday evening, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer wrote that such use of the National Guard was a violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution and exceeded the statutory authority granted to the president.

The order, which takes effect Friday, says the administration must return control of the California National Guard to the state of California.

"Plaintiffs and the citizens of Los Angeles face a greater harm from the continued unlawful militarization of their city, which not only inflames tensions with protesters, threatening increased hostilities and loss of life, but deprives the state for two months of its own use of thousands of National Guard members to fight fires, combat the fentanyl trade, and perform other critical functions," Judge Breyer wrote.

The judge also noted the administration's use of the National Guard in this manner threatened protesters' First Amendment rights to peaceful assembly and expression.

The Trump administration has appealed the ruling to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

RELATED STORY | California Gov. Gavin Newsom sues Trump administration over deployment of the National Guard

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the suit Monday afternoon against both President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Newsom earlier warned that the federalization of the National Guard was a "serious breach of state sovereignty."

In an address to the public on Tuesday, Newsom criticized President Trump for his response to the protests and warned that the events in California may repeat elsewhere in the country.

"This isn't just about protests here in Los Angeles," Newsom said in the message. "When Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard, he made that order apply to every state in this nation. This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived."

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