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OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today responded to a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California 1) finding that the Trump Administration’s use of federalized California National Guard troops and Marines for civilian law enforcement in Los Angeles violated the Posse Comitatus Act and 2) permanently enjoining the Trump Administration from engaging in the same or similar activity in the future. This includes, but is not limited to, engaging in arrests, apprehensions, searches, seizures, security patrols, traffic control, crowd control, riot control, evidence collection, interrogation, or acting as informants. The District Court’s order is stayed until September 12, 2025, at 12pm.
“Today’s ruling affirms that President Trump is not King, and the power of the executive is not boundless,” said Attorney General Bonta. “For more than two months, the President has engaged in political theater, using National Guard troops and Marines as pawns to further his anti-immigrant agenda. In doing so, he trampled on one of the very basic foundations of our democracy: That our military be apolitical and the activities of troops on U.S. soil be extremely limited to ensure civil liberties and protect against military overreach. I applaud the District Court for firmly rejecting the Trump Administration’s reckless interpretation of the Posse Comitatus Act and rebuking its unprecedented use of military troops for civilian law enforcement in California communities.”
The Posse Comitatus Act is a law that Congress passed making it illegal to use the military for civilian law enforcement. The Act has deep roots in American tradition, going back to the founding of our country, when the British King used his military to police the Colonies. Over the course of a three-day trial in August 2025, California showed and the District Court today affirmed that the Trump Administration, in its orders to the federalized California National Guard and Marines, violated the Posse Comitatus Act, finding that:
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