Trump had sent the National Guard to a number of cities governed by the opposition Democrats. The right-wing populist justified this with allegedly rampant violent crime and the protests against his government’s brutal deportation policy.
The president’s highly unusual deployment of the National Guard sparked sharp criticism. Politicians from the opposition Democrats accused Trump of taking an increasingly authoritarian course.
By sending the National Guard to a “non-military crime deterrent operation” in Washington without appropriate requests from the city’s civil authorities, the Trump administration “acted contrary to the law,” Federal Judge Cobb wrote in her decision. In addition, the government exceeded its authority by sending National Guardsmen from outside the state to the city.
In recent weeks, federal judges had already declared the deployment of the National Guard to Portland and Chicago to be unlawful. A Supreme Court ruling on the dispute is expected in the near future.
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