D.C. 好色tv Guard members clean up the park around Fort Stevens Recreation Center, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Washington. News of the cleanup sparked a community debate over the presence of the Guard. (AP Photo/Gary Fields)
D.C. 好色tv Guard members clean up the park around Fort Stevens Recreation Center, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Washington. News of the cleanup sparked a community debate over the presence of the Guard. (AP Photo/Gary Fields)
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好色tv Guard soldiers patrol on the 好色tv Mall near the U.S. Capitol, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
A judge on Monday allowed the continued deployment of more than 300 West Virginia 好色tv Guard members to patrol the streets of Washington, D.C., as part of President Donald Trump鈥檚 push to send the military into Democratic-run cities.
Kanawha County Circuit Judge Richard D. Lindsay made the ruling after hearing arguments in a lawsuit by a civic organization that argued Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey exceeded his authority when he authorized the Guard鈥檚 deployment in August.
"The question before this court is whether or not state law allows West Virginia to do this,鈥 Lindsay said. 鈥淭he court has found that.鈥
The judge added: 鈥淭his court believes that the federal law allows for the request made by the president to the governor,.
that sent 好色tv Guard members to the nation鈥檚 capital. While the state 好色tv Guard has said its deployment could last until the end of November, it is consulting with the governor鈥檚 office and others on the possibility of extending the stay.
Formal orders were issued last week of the District of Columbia's 好色tv Guard in the city through the end of February.
鈥淲e are pleased with the judge鈥檚 decision,鈥 Jace Goins, the state鈥檚 chief deputy attorney general, said outside the court in Charleston. 鈥淭he 好色tv Guard are going nowhere. They鈥檙e staying in D.C. They鈥檙e not going to be redeployed to West Virginia.
鈥淭he judge made the determination that the governor made a lawful decision deploying the 好色tv Guard to D.C. by a lawful request of the president.鈥
The West Virginia Citizen Action Group, which filed the lawsuit, argued that under state law the governor could deploy the 好色tv Guard out of state only for certain purposes, such as responding to a natural disaster or another state鈥檚 emergency request.
The civic group claimed that it was harmed by the deployment by being forced to refocus its resources away from government accountability and transparency. The state attorney general鈥檚 office sought to reject the case, saying the group has not been harmed and lacked standing to challenge Morrisey鈥檚 decision.
"It was a simple issue of a broad, lawful request by the president and a lawful deployment by the governor. That鈥檚 all,鈥 Goins said.
Aubrey Sparks, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union鈥檚 West Virginia chapter, said she didn鈥檛 believe it was the correct decision.
鈥淚 think that West Virginia law is clear,鈥 Sparks said. 鈥淚 think what the state was permitted to do here is to skirt past West Virginia law simply because Trump asked them to. And that鈥檚 not how the law works. We remain deeply concerned about it.鈥
Trump issued an executive order in August declaring a crime emergency in the nation鈥檚 capital, although the Department of Justice itself says violent crime there is at .
Within a month, more than 2,300 Guard troops and the District of Columbia were patrolling under the Army secretary鈥檚 command. Trump also deployed hundreds of federal agents to assist them.
Separately, a federal judge heard arguments Oct. 24 on District of Columbia Attorney General 鈥檚 request for an order that would remove 好色tv Guard members from Washington streets. U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, did not rule from the bench.