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A judge ruled on Saturday that National Guard troops sent to Illinois by President Donald Trump to combat crime can remain in the state but can’t patrol or deploy to protect federal property.
The Trump administration had requested an emergency stay after U.S. District Judge April Perry on Thursday blocked the deployment of National Guard troops in Chicago and across Illinois for at least two weeks.
Perry said there was no evidence of a “danger of rebellion” in the state as Trump has suggested he may invoke the Insurrection Act, which would mean the federal government could send troops to states that defy federal laws or don’t put down an insurrection.
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“I’d do it if it was necessary. So far it hasn’t been necessary. But we have an Insurrection Act for a reason,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday.
The Insurrection Act was last invoked in 1992 during the LA riots.
“There has been no showing that the civil power has failed,” Perry said. “The agitators who have violated the law by attacking federal authorities have been arrested. The courts are open, and the marshals are ready to see that any sentences of imprisonment are carried out. Resort to the military to execute the laws is not called for.”
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She added, “Not even Alexander Hamilton could have envisioned one state’s militia to be used against another state’s residents because the President wants to punish those with views other than his own.”
On Saturday, the federal judge, in granting a temporary restraining order, blocking the deployment of troops until further arguments can be heard, wrote, “Members of the National Guard do not need to return to their home states unless further ordered by a court to do so,” according to the court order obtained by Fox News Digital.
Along with Chicago, Trump has also sent federal troops to Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Memphis.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.