“Trump’s view is that (the troops) are protecting federal property and federal agents, (who are carrying out) the enforcement of federal law, and that this was necessary given the circumstances in Los Angeles,” Mullaney told CNA938.
“The law in this area is not well developed. This will test the law.”
WILL THIS HOLD UP IN COURT?
Rachel VanLandingham, a co-associate dean of research at the Southwestern Law School, said the statute that Trump cited to deploy troops is not well defined.
“It’s so broadly written that it gives vast discretion to the president to decide when the conditions are ripe to federalise – that is, to take control of the National Guard and use them,” she noted.
She added that as there was some violence in the protests – cars were set aflame and scuffles broke out with law enforcement – the Trump administration could use the incidents to justify their case, even if they were a minority.
“I think the courts, at the end of the day, will yield to the president,” said VanLandingham, who is also a retired lieutenant colonel who served primarily as a military attorney for over 20 years in the US Air Force.
