Ex-National Guard Official Condemns Trump's 'Inappropriate' Deployment for LA Protests: 'Bad for All Americans Concerned About States Rights'

The former active vice chief of the National Guard Bureau condemned President Donald Trump's "inappropriate" deployment of troops to the Los Angeles protests on Sunday.

Major General Randy E. Manner released a statement to Fox News in which he criticized Trump for ignoring California Gov. Gavin Newsom's formal request that the administration rescind its "unlawful deployment of troops in Los Angeles county." Newsom added that the federal government was "inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they're actually needed."

"The President's federal deployment of the National Guard over the official wishes of a governor is bad for all Americans concerned about freedom of speech and states rights," Manner wrote in a statement shared on Bluesky.

"The governor has the authority and ability to respond to the civil disturbances with law enforcement capabilities within his state, augmented as necessary by requesting law enforcement assistance from other governors," he continued, adding that there are more than a million law enforcement members across the U.S. who are also available to help if a governor made the request.

"While this is presently a legal order, it tramples the governor's rights and obligations to protect his people," Manner continued. "This is an inappropriate use of the National Guard and is not warranted," he added.

Newsom announced on Monday that he will sue President Trump for illegally deploying the National Guard without consulting him, which he said is "illegal and immoral," according to CBS News.

A U.S. president has not bypassed a governor's wishes in deploying federal troops since March 1965. President Lyndon B. Johnson sent the National Guard to Alabama on the eve of the Selma to Montgomery marches to protect protesters from its staunch segregationist Gov. George Corley Wallace Jr.