California
Judge asks if troops in Los Angeles are violating Posse Comitatus Act
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California’s challenge of the Trump administration’s military deployment in Los Angeles returned to a federal courtroom in San Francisco on Friday for a brief hearing after an appeals court handed President Donald Trump a key procedural win.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer put off issuing any additional rulings and instead asked for briefings from both sides on whether the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits troops from conducting civilian law enforcement on U.S. soil, is being violated in Los Angeles.
Newsom said in his complaint that “violation of the Posse Comitatus Act is imminent, if not already underway” but Breyer last week postponed considering that allegation.
The hearing comes a day after the 9th Circuit appellate panel allowed the president to keep control of National Guard troops he deployed in response to protests over immigration raids.
The appellate decision halted a temporary restraining order from Breyer, who found Trump acted illegally when he activated the soldiers over opposition from California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Despite the appellate setback, California’s attorneys are expected to ask Breyer on Friday for a preliminary injunction returning control of the troops in Los Angeles, where protests have calmed down in recent days, to Newsom.
Trump, a Republican, argued that the troops have been necessary to restore order. Newsom, a Democrat, said their presence on the streets of a U.S. city inflamed tensions, usurped local authority and wasted resources.
The demonstrations have appeared to be winding down, although dozens of protesters showed up Thursday at Dodger Stadium, where a group of federal agents in SUVs and cargo vans had gathered with their faces covered a parking lot. The Los Angeles Dodgers organization asked them to leave, and they did.
On Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass lifted a curfew in downtown Los Angeles that was first imposed in response to vandalism and clashes with police after crowds gathered in opposition to agents taking migrants into detention.
Breyer found that Trump had overstepped his legal authority, which he said allows presidents to control state National Guard troops only during times of “rebellion or danger of a rebellion.”
“The protests in Los Angeles fall far short of ‘rebellion,’” wrote Breyer, a Watergate prosecutor who was appointed by President Bill Clinton and is the brother of retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
The Trump administration argued that courts can’t second-guess the president’s decisions. The appellate panel ruled otherwise, saying presidents don’t have unfettered power to seize control of a state’s guard, but said that by citing violent acts by protesters in this case, the Trump administration had presented enough evidence to show it had a defensible rationale for federalizing the troops.
For now, the California National Guard will stay in federal hands as the lawsuit proceeds. It’s the first deployment by a president of a state National Guard without the governor’s permission since troops were sent to protect Civil Rights Movement marchers in 1965.
Trump celebrated the appellate ruling in a social media post, calling it a “BIG WIN” and hinting at more potential deployments. “All over the United States, if our Cities, and our people, need protection, we are the ones to give it to them should State and Local Police be unable, for whatever reason, to get the job done,” Trump wrote.
Newsom, for his part, has also warned that California won’t be the last state to see troops in the streets if Trump gets his way. “The President is not a king and is not above the law. We will press forward with our challenge to President Trump’s authoritarian use of U.S. military soldiers against citizens,” Newsom said.
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance was traveling to Los Angeles on Friday to meet with U.S. Marines who also have been deployed to protect federal buildings, his office announced.

California
Judge orders Trump administration to stop racial profiling in California immigration raids
DHS image of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ ignites debate on detention facility
A controversial social media post of the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” migrant detention facility in Florida is creating a stir.
Scripps News
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to stop immigration agents in southern California from “indiscriminately” arresting people based on racial profiling, saying that it had likely broken the law by dispatching “roving patrols” of agents to carry out sweeping arrests.
The decision was a win for a group of immigration advocates and five people arrested by immigration agents that sued the Department of Homeland Security over what it called a “common, systematic pattern” of people with brown skin forcibly detained and questioned in the Los Angeles area.
In a complaint filed July 2, the group said the area had come “under siege” by masked immigration agents “flooding street corners, bus stops, parking lots, agricultural sites, day laborer corners, and other places.” They alleged agents picked out targets to forcefully detain and question solely because they had brown skin, spoke Spanish or English with an accent, and worked as day laborers, farm workers, or other jobs.
Those arrested were denied access to lawyers and held in “dungeon-like” facilities where some were “pressured” into accepting deportation, the lawsuit alleged.
Judge Maame Frimpong of the Central District of California wrote in her order that the group would likely succeed in proving that “the federal government is indeed conducting roving patrols without reasonable suspicion and denying access to lawyers.” Stopping the indiscriminate arrests was a “fairly moderate request,” she wrote.
Her order granted an emergency request, and the lawsuit is going.
Mohammad Tajsar, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney representing the group that brought the lawsuit, said, “It does not take a federal judge to recognize that marauding bands of masked, rifle-toting goons have been violating ordinary people’s rights throughout Southern California.”
“We are hopeful that today’s ruling will be a step toward accountability for the federal government’s flagrant lawlessness.”
Frimpong “is undermining the will of the American people,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to USA TODAY. “America’s brave men and women are removing murderers, MS-13 gang members, pedophiles, rapists.”
Allegations that agents are making arrests based on skin color are “disgusting and categorically FALSE,” McLaughlin said. “DHS enforcement operations are highly targeted, and officers do their due diligence.”
The Trump administration ramped up immigration raids across California starting in June, widening its focus from those with criminal records to a broader sweep for anyone in the country illegally.
The crackdown sparked ongoing protests, which Trump dispatched National Guard troops and Marines to quell.
California
Cannabis farm worker in California dies day after chaotic federal immigration raid

LOS ANGELES — A farmworker at a Southern California cannabis farm died after being injured during a chaotic immigration raid by federal officers, the United Farm Workers said Friday.
The labor union did not provide the name of the employee of Glass House Farms north of Los Angeles but confirmed that the worker plummeted some 30 feet.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorize American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” UFW President Teresa Romero said in a statement to NBC News.
Immigration officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Federal agents lobbed less-lethal weapons and tear gas at protesters who gathered outside the Camarillo grow house Thursday while employees were being rounded up and arrested inside.
Officers pepper-sprayed a disabled U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq and works as a security guard at the facility, the man’s wife told NBC News.
George Retes complied with federal officers when he arrived to check on friends and colleagues who might have been affected by the raids, but instead he was arrested on suspicion of assault, according to immigration officials. A hearing is scheduled Monday.
“He wasn’t even a protester,” Guadalupe Torres said of her husband, George Retes. “They smashed his window, and after they smashed his window, they pepper-sprayed him.”
Aerial footage from NBC Los Angeles showed farm equipment being loaded up into tow trucks and people standing around in handcuffs.
At a cultivation center in Carpinteria owned by Glass House Farms, manager Edgar Rodriguez said federal officers assaulted and handcuffed him after he repeatedly asked them to identify themselves and provide a warrant.
Rodriguez was standing behind a window when 10 unidentified men in fatigues arrived Thursday morning in unmarked cars and one armored vehicle.
Rodriguez, a U.S. citizen, said he asked the men several times to identify themselves and provide a reason for arriving heavily armed. The officers refused and responded by saying they were “not ICE” but did not specify which agency they were from.
One of the officers can be seen in video obtained exclusively by NBC News attempting to coax Rodriquez outside by telling him he wouldn’t be harmed.
“I’m just trying to talk to you. We’re not here for you,” the officer said in the video. “We have a federal warrant. We have a right to be here. Please come out.”
“I got you,” the officer said as Rodriguez began to tentatively leave his post.
California
OneRepublic co-founder Tim Myers announces run for California lieutenant governor to ‘fight back’ against Trump

OneRepublic co-founder and former bassist Tim Myers announced his campaign for California lieutenant governor on Monday.
On his campaign website, he cited “a broken political system” and “Trump’s attacks on California” as reasons behind his decision.
“He’ll bring a fresh, strong voice to the Lt. Governor’s office to fight back against the Trump administration’s attacks, take on the rigged system with commonsense solutions, and ensure every Californian has the opportunity to chase their dreams, can afford to make a living here, and feels safe,” his website reads.
Myers had previously announced a run for the U.S. House of Representatives in April.
He explained his shift in campaigns in an Instagram post on Monday.
“I’ve heard from neighbors and friends whose homes and small businesses were robbed. I’ve watched homelessness grow. I’ve seen backdoor deals and political corruption—not just from Trump and his billionaire allies in Washington, but right here in our own backyard in California. I’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with protesters demanding change. But when I looked, I didn’t see our state politicians standing with us. And I realized: I can’t stay silent. I can’t stay on the sidelines,” his Instagram post read.
On TMZ Live Thursday, Myers went further and attacked his fellow lieutenant governor candidates for “not standing up” and using the position as a way to climb the political ladder.
“Every single candidate that’s running right now for lieutenant governor said they want to be governor someday and they’re climbing the political ladder,” Myers said.
“You know the only ladder I care about is the working people here in California climbing up the ladder. They literally can’t afford to buy homes or pay for their rent or pay for groceries or put gas in their tank. So I think it’s honestly insulting for the candidates in this race to say they want to be governor someday. I am not focused on that.”
The lieutenant governor election will be held in November.
Myers’ fellow OneRepublic co-founder, Ryan Tedder, came under his own political fire last month over his post defending President Donald Trump’s military parade that commemorated the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.
“All politics & parties and righteous indignation aside it’s a super bummer that instead of celebrating the 250th anniversary of the USA ARMY and all those who have fought and died on our behalf… We’re protesting,” Tedder wrote on an Instagram story that was later deleted.
The post added, “I haven’t been a card carrying political member of either side in over 20 years & think at this point everything is absurd 99% of the time. But I’d like to say THANKYOU to all of the Army service members active and retired and those who have given their lives to protect our freedom…to protest.”
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