Aug 11 (Reuters) - Troops were used to protect federal property and personnel in California in recent months even though intelligence assessments showed little danger, two military officials testified on Monday at a landmark trial over President Donald Trump's authority to use soldiers to police American streets.
The three-day non-jury trial before San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer will determine whether the government violated a 19th-century law that bars the military from civil law enforcement when Trump deployed the troops in June, as the state of California claims in its legal challenge.
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The trial kicked off hours after Trump
said he was taking the extraordinary step of deploying National Guard troops to fight crime in Washington and suggested he could take similar measures in other U.S. cities.
Much of Monday's testimony came from U.S. Army Major General Scott Sherman, who until recently commanded the military operations in Los Angeles.
Under questioning from a lawyer for California, he testified about an internal military intelligence assessment that concluded there would be little risk to federal property and personnel during a July 7 immigration enforcement operation at a Los Angeles park...
