President Donald Trump now drops a bombshell: he’s “certainly” considering invoking a centuries-old 1807 law to crack down on the unrest.
Los Angeles has descended into chaos.
What began as peaceful demonstrations in Latino neighborhoods quickly escalated into chaos, as ICE ramped up raids across Los Angeles, sparking outrage and panic. Communities flooded the streets demanding answers but instead of transparency, they were met with a military crackdown, ordered directly by Donald Trump.
Over the weekend, the former president dispatched 2,000 National Guard troops to the L.A. area. When tensions only grew, he didn’t back down instead, he escalated.
By Monday night (June 9), an additional 2,000 troops had been deployed. Then came 700 U.S. Marines, sent in by the Pentagon to bolster the response.
And Trump made it clear he was prepared to go even further.
“If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We’ll see,” he warned during a press conference on Tuesday.
Not the First Time
Trump’s warning referenced the Insurrection Act of 1807 a rarely invoked but powerful piece of legislation that allows a president to deploy active-duty military forces on U.S. soil during extreme unrest. Though seldom used, the law has a long and controversial history.
The last time it was triggered in Los Angeles was during the 1992 riots after the Rodney King verdict, when the city erupted in violence and chaos.
Going further back, President Ulysses S. Grant used the act in the post–Civil War era to push back against a wave of racial terror from the Ku Klux Klan, which was targeting Black communities across the South.
In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower relied on the same authority to enforce school desegregation sending federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to ensure nine Black students could safely attend Central High School after the state’s governor defied federal law.
And now, Trump is once again threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act.
“What you’re seeing in California is a full-scale attack on peace, public order, and our national sovereignty,” he declared to troops at Fort Bragg on Tuesday. “These are rioters waving foreign flags, continuing a foreign invasion of our country.”
“This kind of anarchy will not be tolerated. We will not stand by while federal agents are assaulted, and we will not let an American city be overrun by what amounts to a foreign enemy.”
Historically, the U.S. has been cautious about deploying military force on its own soil especially against its own people. Should Trump move forward with activating the Insurrection Act, it remains to be seen what kind of legal or constitutional resistance he might face.
Trump Claps Back After Newsom’s Fiery Speech
California Governor Gavin Newsom has come out swinging against Trump’s military deployment in Los Angeles.
“I have formally requested the Trump Administration rescind their unlawful deployment of troops in L.A. County and return them to my command,” he said bluntly.
“We didn’t have a crisis until Trump stepped in. This is a blatant overreach and a dangerous violation of state sovereignty. He’s not calming the chaos he’s creating it.”
In a sharply worded televised address, Newsom standing before both the U.S. and California flags—accused Trump of turning military force into political theater, warning that the consequences could ripple far beyond California.
“California may be the first, but it clearly won’t be the last,” Newsom warned, his tone growing more urgent as unrest spread and federal forces continued to intervene.
“Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault right before our eyes. The moment we feared has come.”
Meanwhile, Trump wasted no time clapping back on Truth Social in classic fashion:
“If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can’t do their jobs—which everyone knows they can’t—then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem. RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!”
With National Guard troops now guarding federal buildings and supporting ICE agents during raids, tensions are escalating rapidly not just in Los Angeles, but across the country. Protests have flared up in major cities including New York, Chicago, Seattle, Denver, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Austin.
