D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced that he has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for its deployment of the National Guard.
According to the lawsuit, the federal government is violating federal law by using the military for law enforcement purposes, authorizing the National Guard without DC’s approval, and illegally taking federal control over National Guard troops that are considered state militia.
The complaint states that more than “2,200 National Guard troops from seven states and the District of Columbia are currently patrolling the streets of the District dressed in military fatigues, carrying rifles, and driving armored vehicles.”
“Despite the fact that these troops are in state militia status—and thus are legally required to be under the sole command of their governors—the President has placed them under the control of the nation’s military leadership, which exercises day-to-day supervision over the law enforcement operations they have been designated to conduct,” the filing reads.
Schwalb’s lawsuit further argues that the move “violates both the Home Rule Act and a congressionally approved compact governing the interstate mobilization of state National Guard troops.”
“Deploying the National Guard to engage in law enforcement is not only unnecessary and unwanted, but it is also dangerous and harmful to the District and its residents. No American city should have the US military – particularly out-of-state military who are not accountable to the residents and untrained in local law enforcement – policing its streets,” said Schwalb. “It’s DC today but could be any other city tomorrow. We’ve filed this action to put an end to this illegal federal overreach.”
The lawsuit comes as Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) issued an order directing the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to continue cooperating with federal law enforcement officials. Bowser has also admitted that there was an “extreme reduction” in violent crime after President Trump placed DC under federal control.
