700 Marines deployed to Los Angeles amid ongoing ICE protests

[Ninurta]

I guess my question is, how does Trump get away (legally) with deploying 'active duty' troops (Marines in this case) on American soil?  Last time I checked, I thought the 2/7 Marines was an active duty line infantry unit.

Now, I understand their current charter is just protecting federal buildings which is "if-y" in terms of not violating the Posse Comitatus Act, but wider involvement, especially engagement with the enemy may cause some problems for Trump.

Note - Where I see this becoming the biggest problem for Trump is within the notion that these protesters are violently anti-Trump, and this is one of the core reasons why the Posse Comitatus Act was enacted, so Trump is on thin ice here with this action.  I'm sure the liberal media will pick up on this exact theme and start reporting progressively more heavily on it going forward.  For my part, I support the action in principle, and I think I understand Trump's reasoning (i.e. that active duty troops aren't under the command of the State Governor, unlike the National Guard).

It's my understanding that the Guard troops in LA have been federalized under Title 10, and are under federal command rather than state command. Technically, that should preclude their use on American soil too, same as "active duty" troops, but there they are.

Possee Comitatus is a joke, and is regularly ignored by whomever the top dawg of the day is. It was enacted in response to the Federal occupation of the South during Reconstruction after the Civil War, but no one pays any attention to it unless they have a gripe against whomever sent the troops in. Remember the military destruction of "Hoovervilles" during the depression.  Troops were regularly sent in to quell riots in the 1960's, too, and LA has seen it's share of deployments from the 60's onward - this is just the latest one.

I would argue that the militarization of the police forces under DHS "Fusion Centers" rule is also a violation of Possee Comitatus, but no one cares about that, either. There is no logical reason my local PD should have MRAPs, but there they are. DHS gave a town in the next county over about 700 M16A1's, which are stockpiled there. The town police force only has about 12 cops in total, and I've always wondered just who all those M16's are really for.

Meanwhile, on the ground, if I'm getting beat down and set on fire, I don't really care what kind of patches the guys who haul me out of that are wearing. The argument is really an academic one for academics and lawyers to tussle over.

I reckon the bottom line is that cops ought to do cop things and soldiers ought to do soldier things, but for years now those lines have been getting blurred, and when the cops get overwhelmed, who ya gonna send?

.