Newsom: California suing Trump administration for ‘illegal’ federalization of national guard
Speaking to Fox News, Gavin Newsom just said “there’s a reason we’re going to court tomorrow” adding he was confident they’ll succeed.
Here’s the clip from Fox News.
The California governor last night announced that California would sue the Trump administration today over its deployment of the National Guard to quell LA protests against federal immigration raids.
He told MSNBC the lawsuit would challenge Trump’s federalizing of the California National Guard without the state’s consent, a move with little precedent in the country’s history.
Asked to elaborate on the lawsuit, Newsom said that under Trump’s executive order, “it specifically notes – and under what the [Department of Defense] did – is they had to coordinate with the governor of the state. They never coordinated with the governor of the state,” he said.
Key events
Further protests and rallies planned for today in downtown LA
Further protests are planned for today, with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) saying it will lead a peaceful rally and protest in downtown LA at noon PT to demand the end of Ice raids.
The rally, in solidarity with the labor union Service Employees International Union California (SEIU), will call for the immediate release of its president, David Huerta, who was injured and detained while documenting an Ice raid on Friday.
The Party for Socialism & Liberation is also holding a student walkout at 11am PT to protest the deployment of the National Guard and Ice raids at the Federal Building downtown.
British photojournalist Nick Stern, who underwent emergency surgery after he was hit in the thigh by a a 14mm “sponge bullet” fired by police last night, spoke to the BBC this morning from his hospital bed in Long Beach Memorial Medical Centre.
Stern says he has been “hit by rubber bullets before”, typically getting a bruise that remains sore for several days, – but this time “whatever it was that hit me actually perforated the skin”, and left “about a 5cm (2 inch) hole in my leg”.
Stern says he had surgery yesterday and has an “open wound” and he now requires physical therapy to recover.
The photographer adds that he tries to stay as visible as possible when reporting on protests, having more than 30 years experience, and wears identification that marks him as press.
“I’m not hiding behind cars or buildings – and in fact on Saturday I was literally standing in the middle of the road” at the time he was shot, Stern adds.
He says he doesn’t know if he was deliberately targeted or if it can be chalked up to “bad training” of law enforcement officers. “Perhaps he was aiming for somebody near me. I don’t know. I can’t tell,” Stern says.
A spokesman for the LA County Sheriff department says they cannot comment on the shooting until a complaint has been made but they want to ensure the safety of journalists and the general public.
‘Weak’ Newsom ‘did nothing’ to protect LA from ‘violent riots … for days’, alleges Leavitt
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has accused Gavin Newsom of being “weak” and standing by as government officials were attacked during protests.
In a post on X, she claimed the California governor “did nothing as violent riots erupted in Los Angeles for days”.
Federal law enforcement officers were “attacked by violent radicals and illegal criminals”, she added, alleging that Newsom was “too weak to protect the city”.
“The Los Angeles Police Chief has even said the riots were getting out of hand,” she said, claiming the Trump “stepped in” to maintain law and order.
Here’s the full post:
Gavin Newsom did nothing as violent riots erupted in Los Angeles for days. Federal law enforcement officers were attacked by violent radicals and illegal criminals waving foreign flags because Governor Newsom was too weak to protect the city. The Los Angeles Police Chief has even said the riots were getting out of hand. President Trump has stepped in to maintain law and order and protect federal buildings
This from Time Magazine is helpful in explaining the legal context of California’s legal challenge.
To mobilize the National Guard, Trump invoked Title 10, Section 12406 of the U.S. Code, which allows for the federalization of the National Guard in cases of an invasion or a rebellion, or if the president is unable to execute the country’s laws with “regular forces”.
Section 12406, however, also states that “Orders for these purposes shall be issued through the governors of the States”. Newsom confirmed that he did not request the deployment of the National Guard, making it the first time since 1965 that the National Guard has been activated to a state without a governor’s request.
In an open letter to Pete Hegseth, Newsom’s office called the mobilization “a serious breach of state sovereignty” and requested that the Pentagon chief “immediately rescind” the order and “return the National Guard to its rightful control by the State of California, to be deployed as appropriate when necessary”. The Democratic Governors Association backed Newsom in a statement, saying: “It’s important we respect the executive authority of our country’s governors to manage their National Guards.”
Moreover, an 1878 law, the Posse Comitatus Act, limits federal military personnel from being used for civilian law enforcement within the U.S., which means in Los Angeles the National Guard forces mobilized by Trump can protect federal agents, such as Ice officials, and federal properties, such as detention centers, but they cannot arrest protesters.
The Posse Comitatus Act “prohibits troops from being used domestically unless the Insurrection Act is invoked,” constitutional scholar and dean of UC Berkeley Law School Erwin Chemerinsky tells Time, “and the president has not done that”.
According to Reuters, Trump still could invoke the Insurrection Act, but doing so would enter “riskier legal territory”.
The last time the Insurrection Act was invoked was when President George H.W. Bush mobilized the National Guard to quell riots in Los Angeles following the acquittal of the police officers involved in the beating of Rodney King. But a key difference between 1992 and now is that then-governor of California Pete Wilson had requested federal assistance.
Calling in troops to suppress protests has also raised First Amendment concerns. The American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement on Saturday that it also plans to file a lawsuit against the Trump Administration, calling the mobilization of the National Guard an “abuse of power”.
And here’s the California governor announcing the lawsuit himself.
(In the clip he doesn’t actually mention the lawsuit, but he does call Pete Hegseth “a joke” and says Donald Trump is “unhinged right now”).
This is exactly what Donald Trump wanted.
He flamed the fires and illegally acted to federalize the National Guard.
The order he signed doesn’t just apply to CA.
It will allow him to go into ANY STATE and do the same thing.
We’re suing him.pic.twitter.com/O3RAGlp2zo
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 9, 2025
Newsom: California suing Trump administration for ‘illegal’ federalization of national guard
Speaking to Fox News, Gavin Newsom just said “there’s a reason we’re going to court tomorrow” adding he was confident they’ll succeed.
Here’s the clip from Fox News.
The California governor last night announced that California would sue the Trump administration today over its deployment of the National Guard to quell LA protests against federal immigration raids.
He told MSNBC the lawsuit would challenge Trump’s federalizing of the California National Guard without the state’s consent, a move with little precedent in the country’s history.
Asked to elaborate on the lawsuit, Newsom said that under Trump’s executive order, “it specifically notes – and under what the [Department of Defense] did – is they had to coordinate with the governor of the state. They never coordinated with the governor of the state,” he said.
Federalizing national guard ‘illegal and unconstitutional’, says Newsom, calling Trump ‘reckless’ and ‘immoral’
California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has just been speaking to Fox News.
“Donald Trump is reckless, he’s immoral,” said Newsom. “He’s taken the illegal and unconstitutional act of federalizing the National Guard and he’s putting lives at risk.”
He said that by bypassing state governors to deploy the California National Guard, Trump’s move was “by definition, illegal”.
There was no collaboration, there was no counsel, no consideration of the rules of engagement. It was a reckless act that has led to conditions that exacerbated and it’s putting people’s lives at risk.
The day so far
As America wakes up and Trump calls for troops on the ground in LA after a violent night, here’s a brief summary of what you missed.
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California’s governor Gavin Newsom said Trump had “manufactured a crisis” and was “inflaming conditions” by taking the stunning step of deploying the National Guard in response to demonstrations against his administration’s immigration crackdown. Newsom had urged protestors to keep things peaceful, and said to those engaging in violence: “Donald Trump is using you as an excuse to militarize a city and circumvent our democracy.” Earlier on Sunday, Newsom had made a formal request to the Trump administration to rescind its deployment of National Guard troops. He last night added: “Donald Trump needs to pull back. He needs to stand down.”
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At just past 10pm in Los Angeles, the LAPD urged remaining protesters to leave immediately, declaring an “unlawful assembly” in the civic center area of downtown LA. It also said business owners were reporting stores are being looted in the area. Several dozen people were arrested, including one individual detained on Sunday for throwing a Molotov cocktail at police, and another for ramming a motorcycle into a line of officers.
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Isolated protests continued and got more violent as the night went on, following a day of mostly peaceful demonstrations, with Trump declaring “Bring in the troops!” on his social media platform. Masked rioters set cars alight and threw objects as law enforcement officers used tear gas, flash bangs and “less-lethal rounds” like rubber bullets to restore order. “Don’t let these thugs get away with this … “ARREST THE PEOPLE IN FACE MASKS, NOW!” wrote Trump.
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A British news photographer underwent emergency surgery after being hit by non-lethal rounds during the protests. An Australian reporter was also struck by a rubber bullet live on air.
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Around 60 people, including juveniles, were arrested and three police officers injured following unrest in San Francisco. The city’s police force said individuals in a group became “violent” at around 7:01pm PDT, committing crimes ranging from assault to felony vandalism and property damage.
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SFPD declared an unlawful assembly, while several individuals reportedly remained and continued to engage in illegal activity after others dispersed from the area.
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The arrests in San Francisco came as individuals had demonstrated their support of the protests taking place in Los Angeles.
Jason Rodrigues
Jason Rodrigues is a researcher and writer in the Guardian’s research department
Until this Saturday, the last time a US president sent national guard troops in to deal with civil unrest without the cooperation of a state governor was in Alabama in 1965.
As reported by many news outlets, including the Guardian (see below), President Lyndon B. Johnson dispatched the military or federalized the guard to protect a 10,000 strong civil rights march led by Martin Luther King from being attacked by those opposing greater freedoms for black Americans.
President Johnson acted after the Alabama state governor, George Wallace, a leading segregationist, refused to call out the guard, having previously described the marchers as “communist inspired agitators”.
But a federal court ruled that they had a right to march, and with Wallace refusing to allow state troopers to protect them, Johnson did – and in the process he told the governor that he had ‘shirked his responsibility’.
The Selma march went ahead with around 2,000 Alabama national guardsmen deployed. Encouraged by this, the number of marchers reportedly swelled to 25,000 in the five days it took to reach Montgomery, the state capital, where they delivered a voting rights petition to the governor.
Along with the previous two, the third Selma march was pivotal in the civil rights movement, hastening the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed by President Johnson in August 1965.
The Associated Press (AP) reports that no immediate disruption was discernible at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday in the hours after Donald Trump’s new ban on travel to the US by citizens from 12 countries, mainly in Africa and the Middle East, came into effect.
Haitian-American Elvanise Louis-Juste, who was at the airport earlier on Sunday in Newark, New Jersey, awaiting a flight to her home state of Florida, said many Haitians wanting to come to the US are seeking to escape violence and unrest.
The 23-year-old told AP:
I have family in Haiti, so it’s pretty upsetting to see and hear.
I don’t think it’s a good thing. I think it’s very upsetting.
During Trump’s first term, a hastily written executive order ordering the denial of entry to citizens of mainly Muslim countries created chaos at numerous airports and other ports of entry, prompting successful legal challenges and major revisions to the policy.
Many immigration experts say the new ban is more carefully crafted and appears designed to beat court challenges that hampered the first by focusing on the visa application process.
Here are some more photos from the events in Los Angeles and San Francisco that have come through on the wires:
San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie said he had coordinated with local law enforcement and city departments throughout the weekend to keep people safe during Sunday’s protest, which he said had since wound down.
He said in a post on X:
Everyone in this country has a right to make their voice heard peacefully, and local law enforcement will always protect that right and the rights of everyone in our city to be safe.
But we will never tolerate violent and destructive behavior, and as crowds dwindled, a group that remained caused injuries to police officers, vandalized Muni vehicles, and broke windows of local businesses.
The mayor said violence directed towards law enforcement or public servants was “never acceptable”.
He added that work was being done to clear up damage, get public transport services back to full operations and coordinate across departments to remain prepared for any upcoming activities.
The FBI, under the leadership of director Kash Patel, has made fighting violent crime and illegal immigration top priorities, reports the Associated Press.
A revised FBI priority list on its website places “Crush Violent Crime” at the top. The effort brings the bureau into alignment with the vision of US president Donald Trump, who has made a crackdown on illegal immigration, cartels and transnational gangs a cornerstone of his administration.
Patel has said he wants to “get back to the basics”. His deputy, Dan Bongino, said the FBI is returning to “its roots.”
The bureau said in a statement that its commitment to investigating international and domestic terrorism has not changed. It said that it “continuously analyzes” the threat landscape and allocates resources and personnel in alignment with that analysis and its investigative needs.
It added: “We make adjustments and changes based on many factors and remain flexible as various needs arise.”
Courtney Liss, 31, told The New York Times that she was standing to the side of the San Francisco protest on Sunday when police charged forward.
The lawyer told the outlet:
They were shoving people back, and they shoved me into a fire hydrant.
I got hit with a baton three times.
She added that a recent protest she attended that had been conducted by lawyers dressed in suits had not elicited a response from police.
The arrests in San Francisco come as individuals demonstrate their support of the protests taking place in Los Angeles.
Pictures from the city show police officers holding batons and dressed in riot gear with protestors stationed in front of them.
The New York Times reports that at least one San Francisco protester hurled an egg in the officers’ direction, while another threw a glass bottle that shattered on the ground behind police, leading to dozens of more officers arriving.
Garbage cans and traffic cones were also seen being thrown into the middle of the street, while another protestor was spotted smashing the glass window of Chase Bank.
The group reportedly chanted, “Fascist pigs, off our streets!” and “Why are you in riot gear? We don’t see a riot here.”
60 arrested and three police officers injured in San Francisco
Approximately 60 people, including juveniles, have been arrested and three police officers injured following unrest in San Francisco on Sunday, the city’s police force has confirmed.
The force said individuals in a group on Sansome and Washington streets became “violent” at around 7:01pm PDT, committing crimes ranging from assault to felony vandalism and property damage.
SFPD declared an unlawful assembly, while several individuals reportedly remained and continued to engage in illegal activity after others dispersed from the area.
The police said:
Two officers suffered non-life threatening injuries and one was transported to a local hospital for further medical assistance.
The remaining group continued towards Market and Kearny streets where individuals vandalized buildings and an SFPD patrol vehicle, while others splintered off and continued to vandalize property.
Officers detained individuals refusing to disperse after a small group continued on to the 200 block of Montgomery street, reportedly refusing to leave the area. One firearm was recovered at the scene.
LA mayor Karen Bass has asked residents of the city not to engage in violence or chaos.
The comments came after the mayor met with officials including California’s governor Gavin Newsom and LAPD police chief Jim McDonnell to discuss the safety of Angelenos.
She said: “Angelenos — don’t engage in violence and chaos. Don’t give the administration what they want.”
The mayor and Newsom had previously asked the administration to rescind its order to deploy troops, with the California governor calling it a “a serious breach of state sovereignty.”
City of Glendale terminates Ice contract
The City of Glendale, California, has announced that it is formally terminating its agreement with the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).
The agreement allowed federal immigration detainees to be held at the Glendale Police Department facility. The space reportedly offered access to virtual and in-person visitation as well as facilities such as telephones, showers and drinking water.
The city said in a release published shortly after 7:09pm PDT on Sunday evening that the decision had not been made lightly. It said that it acknowledged “with regret” that some families may now face greater difficulty visiting loved ones held by Ice, and that access to legal counsel may be more limited elsewhere.
The statement said:
Nevertheless, despite the transparency and safeguards the City has upheld, the City recognizes that public perception of the ICE contract—no matter how limited or carefully managed, no matter the good—has become divisive.
And while opinions on this issue may vary—the decision to terminate this contract is not politically driven. It is rooted in what this City stands for — public safety, local accountability, and trust.
Here are some more photos of the protests in Los Angeles coming through on the wires:
