Harrisburg, PA – Governor Josh Shapiro has taken legal action to stop President Donald Trump’s unlawful deployment of National Guard troops in American cities.
Governor Shapiro filed an amicus brief explaining why the President’s most recent deployments of the national guard into states without consent of its Governor is dangerous and unlawful.
In Philadelphia earlier today, Governor Shapiro said his action is about protecting both public safety and the rule of law. See here and below for his comments:
“I filed that amicus brief last night to make very, very clear that the Pennsylvania National Guard, under the leadership of General Pippy, is under my command. I’m the Commander in Chief of the Pennsylvania National Guard, and we use the Guard responsibly. We are grateful to our Guardsmen and women for the important work they do here in the Commonwealth.
“I think the way the President has chosen to deploy the guard in other states, and in at least one case, deploy the guard of one state into another state—Texas into Illinois—is extremely dangerous.
“I will tell you, as both the Commander in Chief of the Pennsylvania National Guard, along with the former chief law enforcement officer of this commonwealth, Pennsylvanians’ safety is paramount. And the way in which the President of the United States has engaged on this Guard issue does not make us more safe. It creates chaos and real danger in our communities.
“I've been working tirelessly to make sure we hire more police in Pennsylvania, and we're at about 1,500. I pledged to get to 2,000 and we will surpass that.
“We've invested hundreds of millions of dollars in violence prevention initiatives, here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and violent crime is down 42 percent across this Commonwealth.
“If the President really wants to help on safety, he should invest more in policing here in Pennsylvania. He should invest more in violence prevention, here in Pennsylvania. He should not attempt to deploy the Guard against my wishes.”
The multistate amicus brief, filed in a federal appeals court, argues that the Trump Administration’s deployment of the national guard in Oregon was “unlawful, unconstitutional, and undemocratic.”
The brief states that such deployments violate the principle that “freedom depends on the subordination of the military to civilian authority” and infringe on the sovereignty and police powers reserved to the states.
Governor Shapiro has criticized Trump’s use of the National Guard as a domestic police force, warning that such actions erode trust and threaten constitutional norms.
Other states joining the amicus brief include Washington, Maryland, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. Kansas Governor Laura Kelly and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear also joined the brief.
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