Judge Orders Return of CA National Guard Control to Newsom

A federal judge in San Francisco ruled on Wednesday that the Trump administration must relinquish control of the California National Guard troops deployed in Los Angeles and return authority over them to Governor Gavin Newsom, marking a significant legal challenge to the federal government's use of state forces for domestic enforcement.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer issued the preliminary injunction in response to a lawsuit filed by California officials, who argued that the president's federalization of the Guard violated laws limiting military involvement in civilian affairs. The ruling comes six months after President Donald Trump ordered the activation of approximately 4,000 California National Guard members in June without the governor's consent. The troops were sent to Los Angeles to protect federal personnel and property amid protests against stepped-up immigration enforcement operations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The demonstrations, which began peacefully on June 6 but escalated with incidents including rocks thrown at Border Patrol vehicles and one individual pleading guilty to using a Molotov cocktail, affected only limited areas of the...