Tag Archives: President Lyndon B. Johnson

Law & Crime: ‘Different in kind’: 4-star generals, admirals serving from JFK to Obama say Los Angeles ICE protests don’t warrant deployment of National Guard to California

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4-star admirals, generals serving from JFK to Obama warn Trump’s deployment of National Guard poses ‘potentially grave risk’

Ahead of a Zoom hearing scheduled for Tuesday at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a group of retired four-star generals and admirals who served under presidents ranging from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama filed court documents warning that President Donald Trump’s federalization of the California National Guard and deployment of U.S. Marines poses “potentially grave risk of irreparable harm.”

Seeking the appellate court’s leave to file a brief and enter the case as amici curiae — Latin for “friends of the court” — the retired generals, admirals, and former U.S. Army and Navy secretaries did not explicitly take Gov. Gavin Newsom’s side in the case. They did suggest Sunday, however, that the Trump administration’s bid for an emergency stay of a lower-court ruling and continued push to quell “violent riots” in Los Angeles amid nationwide “No Kings” protests over ICE raids may not pass legal muster when compared to historical precedents.

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Again, although the retired admirals and generals did not support either party to the case, they implicitly warmed to Breyer’s ruling that the definition of “rebellion” has not been met and that, in the proposed amici’s words, the “recent and ongoing situation” in Los Angeles “appears to be different in kind” from the “extreme circumstances” of the 1992 Rodney King riots and the times when state governors “openly” and defiantly stood against the end of racial segregation during the Civil Rights era.

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The brief concluded that Trump’s injection of the military into “domestic political controversies” — “undermining its ability to achieve its core mission of protecting the nation” — is a case in point as to why troops “should be kept out of domestic law enforcement whenever possible.”

Retired four-star generals sound alarm at 9th Circuit on Trump’s National Guard deployment
Retired four-star generals and admirals warn that Trump’s federalization of the National Guard and deployment of U.S. Marines poses “potentially grave risk.”
‘Different in kind’: 4-star generals, admirals serving from JFK to Obama say Los Angeles ICE protests don’t warrant deployment of National Guard to California

California Governor Plans To File Lawsuit Against Trump Over National Guard Deployment To Protests

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Gavin Newsom said he planned to file a lawsuit against Trump in response to the administration’s extraordinary deployment of the National Guard to confront immigration protesters who took to the streets in Los Angeles.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he planned to file a lawsuit Monday against President Donald Trump in response to the administration’s extraordinary deployment of the National Guard to confront immigration protesters who took to the streets in Los Angeles.

“Commandeering a state’s National Guard without consulting the Governor of that state is illegal and immoral,” Newsom, a Democrat, told MSNBC on Sunday.

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Newsom, meanwhile, has repeatedly said that California authorities had the situation under control. He mocked Trump for posting a congratulatory message to the Guard on social media before troops had even arrived in Los Angeles, and he told MSNBC that Trump never floated deploying the Guard during a Friday phone call. He called Trump a “stone cold liar.”

California Governor Plans To File Lawsuit Against Trump Over National Guard Deployment To Protests
Gavin Newsom said he planned to file a lawsuit against Trump in response to the administration’s extraordinary deployment of the National Guard to confront immigration protesters who took to the streets in Los Angeles.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/immigration-raids-los-angeles-erupt_n_68466bb4e4b07d5e027be1f9

SFGate: San Francisco police arrest more anti-ICE protesters than Los Angeles

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San Francisco police arrested 154 people Sunday night after a downtown protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly escalated with the arrival of law enforcement in riot gear.

The San Francisco protest erupted after President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles — bypassing the state’s governor for the first time since 1965 — in a move that escalated tensions after an explosion of high-profile ICE activity in California last week. Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Los Angeles, shutting down a major highway and igniting multiple self-driving cars as officers unleashed tear gas and rubber bullets against the crowd Sunday.

Los Angeles law enforcement arrested 42 people Sunday, NBC Los Angeles reported.

On Sunday in San Francisco, hundreds began gathering in solidarity around 6 p.m. outside ICE headquarters at 630 Sansome St. before entering into a 40-minute standoff with police, Mission Local reported. Officials declared an unlawful assembly at 7:33 p.m., and about 10 minutes later, violence began with some crowd members who brought metal barricades, according to the outlet.

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San Francisco police arrest more anti-ICE protesters than Los Angeles

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/sf-police-arrest-more-anti-ice-protesters-than-la-20368528.php

Associated Press: Protests intensify in Los Angeles after Trump deploys hundreds of National Guard troops

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Tensions in Los Angeles escalated Sunday as thousands of protesters took to the streets in response to President Donald Trump’s extraordinary deployment of the National Guard, blocking off a major freeway and setting self-driving cars on fire as law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash bangs to control the crowd.

Some police patrolled the streets on horseback while others with riot gear lined up behind Guard troops deployed to protect federal facilities including a detention center where some immigrants were taken in recent days. Police declared an unlawful assembly, and by early evening many people had left.

But protesters who remained grabbed chairs from a nearby public park to form a makeshift barrier, throwing objects at police on the other side. Others standing above the closed southbound 101 Freeway threw chunks of concrete, rocks, electric scooters and fireworks at California Highway Patrol officers and their vehicles that were parked on the highway. Officers ran under an overpass to take cover.

It was the third day of demonstrations against Trump’s immigration crackdown in the region, as the arrival of around 300 federal troops spurred anger and fear among some residents. Sunday’s protests in Los Angeles, a city of 4 million people, were centered in several blocks of downtown.

Starting in the morning, National Guard troops stood shoulder to shoulder, carrying long guns and riot shields outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. Protesters shouted “shame” and “go home.” After some closely approached the guard members, another set of uniformed officers advanced on the group, shooting smoke-filled canisters into the street.

Minutes later, the Los Angeles Police Department fired rounds of crowd-control munitions to disperse the protesters, who they said were assembled unlawfully. Much of the group then moved to block traffic on the 101 freeway until state patrol officers cleared them from the roadway by late afternoon, while southbound lanes remained shut down.

Nearby, at least four self-driving Waymo cars were set on fire, sending large plumes of black smoke into the sky and exploding intermittently as the electric vehicles burned. By evening, police had issued an unlawful assembly order shutting down several blocks of downtown Los Angeles.

Flash bangs echoed out every few seconds into the evening.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom requested Trump remove the guard members in a letter Sunday afternoon, calling their deployment a “serious breach of state sovereignty.”

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Protests intensify in Los Angeles after Trump deploys hundreds of National Guard troops
National Guard troops have begun arriving on President Trump’s orders in response to immigration protests.

https://apnews.com/article/immigration-protests-raids-los-angeles-78eaba714dbdd322715bf7650fb543d7

New York Times: Trump Is Calling Up National Guard Troops Under a Rarely Used Law

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President Trump bypassed the authority of Gov. Gavin Newsom to call up 2,000 National Guard troops to quell immigration protests.

President Trump took extraordinary action on Saturday by calling up 2,000 National Guard troops to quell immigration protests in California, making rare use of federal powers and bypassing the authority of the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom.

It is the first time since 1965 that a president has activated a state’s National Guard force without a request from that state’s governor, according to Elizabeth Goitein, senior director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, an independent law and policy organization. The last time was when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to Alabama to protect civil rights demonstrators in 1965, she said.

Mr. Newsom, a Democrat, immediately rebuked the president’s action. “That move is purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions,” Mr. Newsom said, adding that “this is the wrong mission and will erode public trust.”

Governors almost always control the deployment of National Guard troops in their states. But the directive signed by Mr. Trump cites “10 U.S.C. 12406,” referring to a specific provision within Title 10 of the U.S. Code on Armed Services. Part of that provision allows the federal deployment of National Guard forces if “there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”

It also states that the president may call into federal service “members and units of the National Guard of any State in such numbers as he considers necessary to repel the invasion, suppress the rebellion, or execute those laws.”

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Although some demonstrations have been unruly, local authorities in Los Angeles County did not indicate during the day that they needed federal assistance.

Trump Is Calling Up National Guard Troops Under a Rarely Used Law

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/07/us/trump-national-guard-deploy-rare.html

Associated Press: Protests intensify in Los Angeles after Trump deploys hundreds of National Guard troops

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Tensions in Los Angeles escalated Sunday as thousands of protesters took to the streets in response to President Donald Trump’s extraordinary deployment of the National Guard, blocking off a major freeway and setting self-driving cars on fire as law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash bangs to control the crowd.

Some police patrolled the streets on horseback while others with riot gear lined up behind Guard troops deployed to protect federal facilities including a detention center where some immigrants were taken in recent days. Police declared an unlawful assembly, and by early evening many people had left.

But protesters who remained grabbed chairs from a nearby public park to form a makeshift barrier, throwing objects at police on the other side. Others standing above the closed southbound 101 Freeway threw chunks of concrete, rocks, electric scooters and fireworks at California Highway Patrol officers and their vehicles that were parked on the highway. Officers ran under an overpass to take cover.

It was the third day of demonstrations against Trump’s immigration crackdown in the region, as the arrival of around 300 federal troops spurred anger and fear among some residents. Sunday’s protests in Los Angeles, a city of 4 million people, were centered in several blocks of downtown.

Starting in the morning, National Guard troops stood shoulder to shoulder, carrying long guns and riot shields outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. Protesters shouted “shame” and “go home.” After some closely approached the guard members, another set of uniformed officers advanced on the group, shooting smoke-filled canisters into the street.

Minutes later, the Los Angeles Police Department fired rounds of crowd-control munitions to disperse the protesters, who they said were assembled unlawfully. Much of the group then moved to block traffic on the 101 freeway until state patrol officers cleared them from the roadway by late afternoon, while southbound lanes remained shut down.

Protests intensify in Los Angeles after Trump deploys hundreds of National Guard troops
National Guard troops have begun arriving on President Trump’s orders in response to immigration protests.

https://apnews.com/article/immigration-protests-raids-los-angeles-78eaba714dbdd322715bf7650fb543d7