A federal judge has ruled United States President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy military on the California protests was illegal.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer found that the Trump administration wilfully violated a law known as the Posse Comitatus Act, which limits the use of the military for domestic enforcement.
This comes after the administration deployed 4,000 National Guard members and 7,000 active-duty U.S. Marines to Los Angeles in June.
The ruling has been put on hold until 12 September, with the Trump administration likely to appeal.
At a press conference, Trump said the Los Angeles deployments restored order and that he plans to do the same in other cities in the future.
"Chicago is a hellhole right now. Baltimore is a hellhole right now," Trump said.
"We have the right to do it because I have an obligation to protect this country."
The injunction only applies to the military in California. Still, the judge said Trump’s desire to send the military to other cities meant that a national injunction was necessary to prevent future violation of the law.
Trump said the troops were needed in Los Angeles to protect federal agents carrying out immigration enforcement, with his lawyers arguing it was an exception to the Posse Comitatus Act.
"There is no question that federal personnel should be able to perform their jobs without fearing for their safety," wrote Breyer, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Bill Clinton and is the brother of former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
"But to use this as a hook to send military troops alongside federal agents wherever they go proves too much and would frustrate the very purpose of the Posse Comitatus Act.”
