President Donald Trump has earned praise from an unlikely source following his decision to activate elements of the California National Guard and deploy them to protect federal buildings and agents during anti-immigration enforcement rioting last week in Los Angeles.
U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX) praised Trump’s decision to deploy the forces, saying the unrest had clearly surpassed the bounds of a “peaceful protest.” In an interview with NewsNation, Cuellar highlighted that federal agents faced sustained attacks from left-wing mobs in the days preceding the deployment.
“If there was a peaceful protest, that would have been one thing. But the moment we started seeing images of cars being burned and violence and throwing of bricks, then it changes,” he said. “And then that’s why you start talking about bringing the National Guard in at that particular time.”
Host Blake Burman asked, “So the court said that the President could federalize the National Guard. Do you think [they] got this one right?” The Texas Democrat responded in the affirmative.
“I think he did. Look, the thing is, if there was a peaceful protest, that would have been one thing. But the moment we started seeing images of cars being burned and violence and throwing of bricks, then it changes. And then that’s why you start talking about bringing the National Guard in at that particular time. If those peaceful protests — which they have a right to do that — but those fires that I’m looking at [on] your screen right now, when you see that, that’s not good,” Cuellar said.
“And I believe that’s why the National Guard came in at this time. Look, I’m for peaceful protests, but any time you start creating — throwing bricks and hammers and burning cars and it turns criminal, then you’re talking about something that’s very different,” he added.
In a significant win for the Trump Administration, a federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that the president’s decision to federalize thousands of National Guard soldiers was statutorily and constitutionally proper.
The decision, handed down late Thursday night, allows President Trump to retain control over approximately 4,000 California National Guard members deployed to quell the riots. Governor Newsom swiftly condemned the move, filing a lawsuit to regain authority over the troops and accusing the president of acting “unlawfully.”
However, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected Newsom’s challenge, ruling that President Trump acted within his legal authority in directing the deployment.
