The "Shield Doctrine"

My Advice to Gov. Newsom And What He Should Do Before Trump Pulls the Trigger

California is now the epicenter of a constitutional confrontation. Federalized National Guard troops—activated under Title 10 by President Trump over the objection of Governor Gavin Newsom—are now on the ground in Los Angeles. Protests over ICE raids are intensifying. Marines at Twentynine Palms are on standby. The Insurrection Act has not yet been invoked, but it sits fully loaded, waiting for a flashpoint.

Governor Newsom has called the move unlawful. But words alone won’t stop what comes next. If Trump invokes 10 U.S.C. §252, the National Guard becomes a domestic police force. Posse Comitatus dissolves. And active-duty U.S. troops gain full authority to patrol American streets.

The question is not whether Trump wants to go there.
It’s how fast the optics and the resistance will let him.

If Gavin Newsom truly sees himself as a future president, then this is it. This is the moment. No debates. No pregame. Just the fourth quarter and a two-minute drill.

Let’s talk about what matters—because right now, people are wringing their hands, chanting, protesting, and yelling at the sky. There’s a lot of noise. There’s minimal strategy.

I have two concerns at the moment:

• First, if this situation continues without de-escalation, the use of deadly force is inevitable.

• Second: I fear that’s precisely what Trump’s inner circle—especially Stephen Miller—wants.

They are provoking a crisis. They want the Insurrection Act. They want federal troops on American soil, not just to “restore order,” but to set a precedent. They want to arrest mayors. They want to arrest governors. They talk openly of military tribunals (which would be blatantly unconstitutional). They want blood and spectacle—and they think history is on their side.

Time is not neutral here.

Every day this drags forward increases the odds that someone panics, someone overreacts, and someone dies.

• A protester is shot by mistake.

• A Guardsman misreads a threat and opens fire.

• DHS uses force against civilians.

• An ICE unit escalates a clash into a crisis.
  And then it spirals. And then Trump declares California in rebellion.

Time is not on the side of the good guys.

So all this talk about “peaceful protest” and “waiting it out”?

It’s dangerously naive.

This isn’t 1963. The people you’re up against don’t feel shame. They don’t respond to moral clarity. They want the chaos. They want the confrontation.

The good news? California still has tools. Real tools. Legal tools.
While the military holds the power of escalation, the State of California holds the power of federalism—and it’s time to use it.

If California's leaders act now, they can weaponize the 10th Amendment, not as a symbol, but as a shield. Not to rebel. But to govern.

Because if they don't—
They won't just lose this round.
They’ll lose the ground forever.

The Legal Ground: What Newsom Can Do

Under Printz v. United States (1997), the Supreme Court made clear that the federal government cannot commandeer state or local officials to enforce federal law. This is the heart of the anti-commandeering doctrine, rooted in the 10th Amendment. States are sovereign entities. Their officials answer to state law—not to the President or federal agencies.

Similarly, in U.S. v. Arizona (2012), the Court held that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility, and states can't create parallel systems. But the flip side is equally important: states aren’t obligated to participate either. Refusing to help is not rebellion. It’s a constitutionally protected right.

So LAPD, CHP, county sheriffs—they’re under no obligation to cooperate with federalized National Guard, ICE, or active-duty military unless a specific court order or statute compels them. And there is no such statute now in play.

But here’s the strategic reality:

Legal rights not exercised become legal fictions.

A court ruling is not a shield unless it’s made visible—on the ground, in uniform, in the public narrative. Newsom’s greatest asset isn’t just the law—it’s the ability to embody that law with state officers acting in defense of civilians, not in partnership with federal escalation.

That’s the core of the Shield Doctrine:

Turn passive legality into active sovereignty. Not defiance. Not secession.
But a constitutional firewall made real through state power.

This is where Newsom has leverage. But only if he uses it.

The Shield Doctrine: Tactical Deployment for State Sovereignty

Newsom, and all of the city mayors (this won’t stop at Los Angeles) should deploy state and local law enforcement not to confront protesters, and not to confront federal troops—but to position themselves between the two.

In other words, preserve order and protect the citizens of the State of California from the abuse by the federal government.

This is the Shield Doctrine:

• Stand down entirely from protest suppression. Declaring protests “unlawful assemblies” and dispersing crowds only plays into the White House narrative. It gives Trump the optics of disorder. It makes the state look out of control.

• Reposition police as buffers, not enforcers. LAPD, LASD, and CHP should redeploy—not to shut protests down, but to stand between federal agents and the people. Their job is to prevent federal overreach, not enforce ICE’s agenda.

• Reframe the mission. The role of California’s police is not to silence dissent. It’s to preserve order on the state’s terms. That means protecting both public safety and the First Amendment.

• Announce these acts and deployment as an act of citizen protection and de-escalation, not interference.

• Reiterate, in nationally televised briefings by local and state officials that the state has sufficient resources to maintain peace and does not require, nor has it asked for, federal law enforcement aid.

• Reiterate that communities are being subjected to unwarranted federal militarization, driven by political motives rather than genuine public safety concerns.

• Frame federal troop presence as escalatory and unlawful unless authorized by mutual consent or a court order. Make clear, in these briefings, how Courts continue to find the actions of the Administration to be unlawful, subject to criminal sanctions, and legally incoherent.

Finally, in light of that last point, the Governor should reaffirm, daily and without apology, that California is not in rebellion—but that it will not surrender its citizens to a President who treats the law as optional and federal force as personal muscle.

This is not defiance. It is governance. This is leadership.

Strategic Implications: Delay, De-escalate, Divide, & Political Optics

This buys time. It denies Trump the storyline he craves—that law enforcement has collapsed, that chaos reigns, and that only federal force can restore order. With state police visibly managing the streets, the burden of escalation shifts to him.

If federal troops move on protestors, they’ll have to go through California’s own officers first.

That’s not just a tactical barrier.
That’s an optics disaster.

And if violence breaks out? The images won’t be of mobs—they’ll be of American soldiers turning weapons on unarmed civilians protected by their own state. The legal ambiguity doesn’t weaken California. It guts Trump’s claim to legitimacy.

It’s the moral thing to do. It’s also the correct policy: a state has an obligation to protect its people from unlawful force.

And it just so happens to be excellent political strategy.

If Trump uses the ANG and ICE to overrun California law enforcement—as he’s promised under Project 2025—and things go sideways (as they almost certainly will), the narrative explodes. This stops being about immigration. It becomes a national crisis over federalism, executive abuse, and the rule of law. A question no one wants to ask out loud will come roaring into the mainstream:

Is America on the brink of civil war?

Markets will collapse.
The bond market will seize.
The dollar will fracture.

You think tariffs rattled investors? Wait until CNN runs looped footage of military force used in a U.S. city—more violent than anything since Kent State.

Republicans won’t care. They haven’t cared in a long time.

You’ll see them on CNN that night, standing in front of flags, explaining—calmly, cheerfully—why the Guard had no choice but to open fire on people chanting slogans and waving banners. They’ll say the ICE agents in up-armored vehicles feared for their lives. That insults were violence. That flags are projectiles. That chanting was incitement.

And then—because they can’t help themselves—they’ll look you dead in the eye and tell you this was all necessary to preserve the peace.

Unlike that very fine crowd on January 6th, who stormed the Capitol with zip ties and bear spray in the name of liberty.

If they’re that craven? Let them.

Let them go on national television and break their backs defending it.
Let them torch what little moral capital they have left, smiling all the while.
Let them sell bloodshed in Los Angeles as patriotism—for Aunt Bea and apple pie.

Because when they do, the rest of the country—and the rest of the world—will see it clearly:

That the Republican Party has no ideology left—only obedience.
That Trump’s regime doesn’t restore order. It destroys the Union to preserve his ego.

And they will never recover from it.

The Final Call: Governors, This Is Your Line

The choice isn’t protest. The choice is defense.

So Gavin—this is your moment.

You’re supposedly Mister hot-shit. Future president. The guy who can beat DeSantis in a cage match of teeth and hair gel. Mister “I’m good-looking and I’m smart.”

Are you?

Because right now, I’m not impressed.

Right now, thus far, you’re “oh” and getting your ass kicked.

So I laid it out for you. And for every other governor. Because this won’t stop in California. What’s happening now is a dry run for something bigger.

This can go one of three ways:

One: It limps along. Protests, ICE cosplay, the Guard wandering in circles. Maybe it fizzles. 60–70% odds. Everyone breathes a little easier.

Two: It goes hot. Someone panics. Someone overreacts. An APC opens fire. In 20 seconds, 100 people are dead. 10–15% odds. And then it’s Donkey Kong time.

Three: States push back. Optics shift. Trump caves. Because that’s what he does. He’s the king of TACO—Trump Always Chickens Out. He doesn’t do hard. He’s a lazy guy. What he does? He does loud. He doesn’t do consequences. He does headlines.

So push him. Hard.

Wrap the people of Los Angeles in the thin blue line.

Yes, it’s ironic. LAPD protecting people instead of cracking skulls? Daryl Gates is spinning in his grave. But this time, that’s the job.

LAPD. LASD. CHP. Every department. Form a wall. Step between ICE, DHS, the Guard, and the people.

And here’s the truth: a lot of those Guardsmen are cops. Sheriffs. Paramedics. They’ll be staring across the line at people they train with, drink with, bleed with. That matters. That slows things down. That stops a shooting before it starts.

It’s the right thing to do.
It’s the moral thing to do.
It’s the strategically smart thing to do.

Which is precisely why, of course, the Democrats probably won’t do it.

But it’s what I’d do.

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