Curtis Tate Published

ACLU-WV Lawsuit Aims To Block National Guard Deployment To D.C.

A group of soldiers stand outside a large Capitol building in Washington D.C.
Last month, members of the West Virginia National Guard’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield explosive Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP) participated in response exercises at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
West Virginia National Guard

The ACLU of West Virginia has filed a lawsuit to block Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s deployment of the West Virginia National Guard to the District of Columbia.

Morrisey is one of six Republican governors who said they’d send troops to the nation’s capital to support law enforcement and the preferences of President Donald Trump.

The lawsuit, filed with Citizen Action Group of West Virginia, says the governor exceeded his authority and the deployment is unlawful.

The groups filed the complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court on Thursday. It was assigned to Judge Richard Lindsay.

ACLU-WV’s Aubrey Sparks says National Guard troops were deployed against U.S. citizens in the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921. 

The governor, the lawsuit says, may only deploy the National Guard outside state borders in a time of emergency. None exists now, it says.

Crime in the city is at a 30-year low, according to the U.S. Justice Department.