A three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals appeared skeptical of the Trump administration's justification for deploying troops to Los Angeles, according to a new report.
During oral arguments heard on Wednesday, Judge Eric Miller pushed back on several arguments made by Justice Department attorney Eric McArthur about whether President Donald Trump is justified in sending troops to the city, according to a report by NBC News. In May, Trump deployed thousands of federal troops to Los Angeles in response to growing protests against his immigration policies.
Miller asked McArthur why "disorderly conduct" at the protest was "comparable severity to an invasion or a rebellion," according to the report.
“Because violence is being used to thwart enforcement of federal law,” McArthur answered, adding that it went "well beyond the sort of everyday resistance that you see to federal law enforcement."
“But violence is used to thwart enforcement of federal law all the time. Right?" Miller asked. "I mean, like, the FBI goes to arrest somebody and he shoots at them or tries to run away, and that happens every day, right?"
The Trump administration faces a second case stemming from his attempt to deploy troops to Portland, Oregon, over the limits of presidential power to deploy federal troops domestically. A federal panel of judges ruled that Trump did have the power to deploy troops to the city.
