Overview

• U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer found that National Guard members and Marines were used for policing functions in Los Angeles, violating the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act.
• The order bars federal troops in California from arrests, searches, seizures, security patrols, traffic or crowd control, riot control, evidence collection, interrogation, or informant work absent a valid exception.
• The Justice Department is appealing, and administration officials contend troops only protected federal personnel and property, with about 300 Guard members remaining in Southern California.
• Trial evidence showed troops set up perimeters and traffic blockades and engaged in crowd control, as the judge rejected claims of a “rebellion” and noted civilian law enforcement could enforce the law.
• Roughly 4,000 Guard members and 700 Marines were deployed in June; a prior Breyer order was stayed by the 9th Circuit, and this dispute is expected to return to that court with potential nationwide implications.