Military violated Posse Comitatus in LA
Notes for National Guard troops, local cops, and their leadership. The time has come to refuse to obey unlawful orders.
To any military or law enforcement personnel who believe this fusion of policing and military deployment is good, please note: it is a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act for military personnel to engage in civilian law enforcement, except in the event of a national emergency. Military leaders who state that their troops can “restrict movement” of civilians to facilitate police stops violate federal law. Restricting movement is a detention. Full stop. Courts have ruled many times in policing cases that when someone understands they cannot leave, it is a detention, a legal stop. If you are a National Guard member and told to restrict movement, understand that your command is telling you to violate the law. Think about that.
Northern District of California Judge Charles Breyer ruled today that the Trump administration violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the use of the military as civilian law enforcement, when US National Guard troops were deployed to LA in response to protests against ICE roundups.
The judge said: “Congress spoke clearly in 1878 when it passed the Posse Comitatus Act, prohibiting the use of the US military to enforce domestic law. There were indeed protests in Los Angeles, and some individuals engaged in violence. Yet, there was no rebellion, nor was civilian law enforcement unable to respond to the protests and enforce the law…In short, defendants violated the Posse Comitatus Act.” Additionally, Judge Breyer said Trump seems intent on “creating a national police force with the President as the chief.”
There is a slippery slope going on here. Military and Law Enforcement leaders, in their desire to follow orders and not provoke Trump’s ire, are treading on very thin ice. They may believe that participating in these immigration raids or law enforcement actions from a distance is lawful, but it is not. If you facilitate the execution of civilian law enforcement, then you are acting as law enforcement.
To all sworn military and police who are increasingly being co-opted into this fusion of lawlessness masquerading as crime reduction: Understand that the time has now come to refuse unlawful orders.