California’s governor indicated late Sunday his office plans to sue the Trump administration after the state’s National Guard was deployed to confront protesters in Los Angeles.
“Donald Trump is putting fuel on this fire. Commandeering a state’s National Guard without consulting the Governor of that state is illegal and immoral,” wrote Gavin Newsom on X. “California will be taking him to court.”
In a followup on Monday morning, Newsom posted Mr. Trump “illegally acted to federalize the National Guard,” adding “we’re suing him.”
National Guard troops were sent to downtown Los Angeles Sunday amid a weekend marked by protests and at-time violent clashes between law enforcement and protesters. The unrest began following large-scale immigration enforcement operations in the area on Friday.
Images captured by CBS Los Angeles showed members of the National Guard using what appeared to be tear gas and rounds of non-lethal ammunition after a crowd gathered near the Metropolitan Detention Center.
During a Sunday evening news conference, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said 39 people had been arrested.
Mr. Trump announced Saturday night that he would deploy the Guard in response to the protests and in a social media post on Sunday, he criticized Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass. Mr. Trump called the protesters “troublemakers and insurrectionists.”
Newsom, in his own social media posts, accused Mr. Trump of “escalating the situation,” and called the National Guard deployment “purposefully inflammatory.”
He requested that the federal government rescind the deployment of troops to L.A. in a letter addressed to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, saying there was “no need” for the National Guard.
Newsom’s office confirmed on Saturday that he spoke with Mr. Trump for about 40 minutes, although it’s unclear if they spoke before or after Mr. Trump announced the deployment.
In a statement to CBS News, an ICE spokesperson said immigration enforcement operations have resulted in the arrest of a “domestic abuser” and a “child rapist.”
Graham Kates is an investigative reporter covering criminal justice, privacy issues and information security for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at [email protected] or [email protected]
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