Politico – “D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued the Trump administration on Thursday for deploying the National Guard to Washington, saying it infringes on the city’s sovereignty and violates laws prohibiting the use of the military for domestic law enforcement. “The deployment of National Guard troops to police District streets without the District’s consent infringes on its sovereignty and right to self-governance,” lawyers for D.C. wrote in the lawsuit, which was filed in federal District Court in Washington. “The deployment also risks inflaming tensions and fueling distrust toward local law enforcement. And it inflicts economic injuries, depressing business activities and tourism that form the backbone of the local economy and tax base. No American jurisdiction should be involuntarily subjected to military occupation.” The lawsuit is the latest legal pushback against President Donald Trump’s effort to send troops into cities to facilitate his policy goals — from mass deportation to cracking down on violent crime in areas run by Democrats.

Over 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. The U.S. Department of Defense has directed these troops to conduct core law enforcement activities, including “presence patrols” and “community patrols.” The U.S. Department of Justice has also deputized these troops to engage in additional law enforcement activities, including searches, seizures, and arrests. And 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 residents and leaders of the District of Columbia have not requested any of this. But the President has determined that the District, which he has called a “filthy and crime ridden embarrassment,” should be “federalize[d],” so that his Administration can “run it the way it’s supposed to be run.” He has therefore disregarded Congress’s decision, half a century ago, to afford the residents of the District “the powers of local self-government,” including the authority to police the District as they see fit. In so doing, he has run roughshod over a fundamental tenet of American democracy—that the military should not be involved in domestic law enforcement…”