A judge on Monday cleared the continued deployment of more than 300 West Virginia National Guard members to Washington, D.C., as part of President Donald Trump’s effort to send the military into Democratic-run cities.
According to The Associated Press, Kanawha County Circuit Judge Richard D. Lindsay ruled in favor of the deployment after hearing a lawsuit from the West Virginia Citizen Action Group, which argued Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey exceeded his authority in approving the Guard’s August deployment.
“The question before this court is whether or not state law allows West Virginia to do this,” Lindsay said. “The court has found that.” He added, “This court believes that the federal law allows for the request made by the president to the governor.”
West Virginia is among several states sending National Guard members to the capital. The state Guard has said the deployment could last through the end of November, but is consulting on a possible extension. Formal orders have also extended the D.C. National Guard’s presence through February.
Jace Goins, West Virginia’s chief deputy attorney general, praised the ruling, saying, “The National Guard are going nowhere. They’re staying in D.C. They’re not going to be redeployed to West Virginia. The judge determined that the governor made a lawful decision deploying the National Guard to D.C. by a lawful request of the president.”
The lawsuit argued that under state law, the governor could deploy the Guard out of state only for emergencies, such as natural disasters or another state’s request. The civic group said it was harmed by having to redirect its resources away from government accountability.
Aubrey Sparks, attorney for the ACLU of West Virginia, criticized the ruling. “I think West Virginia law is clear,” Sparks said. “I think what the state was permitted to do here is to skirt past West Virginia law simply because Trump asked them to. And that’s not how the law works. We remain deeply concerned about it.”
Trump issued an executive order in August declaring a crime emergency in D.C., despite the Department of Justice reporting that violent crime there is at a 30-year low. Within a month, over 2,300 Guard troops from eight states and D.C. were patrolling under the Army secretary’s command, supported by hundreds of federal agents.
Separately, a federal judge heard arguments on Oct. 24 regarding D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb’s request to remove National Guard members from the city, but has yet to issue a ruling.
