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A general has testified that National Guard troops repeatedly rehearsed their role in an operation at a Los Angeles park intended as a show of force against people protesting immigration raids. Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman testified Tuesday at a trial to determine whether the Trump administration violated federal law when it deployed the soldiers and U.S. Marines to Southern California this summer. Sherman commanded Guard troops deployed in Los Angeles. He says the operation in MacArthur Park was initially planned for June 15. But the park was expected to be busy because that was Father’s Day, so he says the operation was pushed to July 7.

A federal judge in San Francisco will hear arguments on whether military troops deployed this summer by the Trump administration to Los Angeles violated a federal law that bars troops from conducting law enforcement duties within the country. Judge Charles Breyer will decide whether the Posse Comitatus Act, an 1878 law that prevents the president from using the military as a domestic police force, was violated by the 4,700 California National Guard members and Marines sent following protests. The case could set precedent for how Trump can deploy the guard in the future in California or other states.