Judge concludes that governor was within bounds to send West Virginia Guard to patrol D.C.

Kanawha Circuit Judge Richard Lindsay denied a preliminary injunction and dismissed a case over whether the governor has been within his authority to deploy the West Virginia National Guard to patrol Washington, D.C.

The ruling came at the end of a two-hour hearing Monday afternoon.

On August 11, President Donald Trump declared a “crime emergency” for the District of Columbia, and five days later Gov. Patrick Morrisey deployed 300 to 400 members of the West Virginia National Guard for support.

The president’s emergency declaration, which placed the Metropolitan Police Department under federal direction, expired after 30 days, Sept. 10. Yet the West Virginia National Guard deployment remains active and could be in effect through early next year or beyond.

Lindsay’s ruling weighed the un