Thousands of heavily armed Guard troops, as well as 700 U.S. Marines have been deployed in the city’s downtown core for over a week in response to protests over ongoing ICE raids and abductions of the undocumented (and in some cases, the documented).
Archiv: Insurrection Act (1807)
Governor Newsom’s Address to California: Democracy at a Crossroads
Yesterday, we filed a legal challenge to President Trump’s reckless deployment of American troops to a major American city.
Today, we sought an emergency court order to stop the use of the American military to engage in law enforcement activities across Los Angeles.
If some of us can be snatched off the streets without a warrant, based only on suspicion or skin color, then none of us are safe.
Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves. But they do not stop there.
The Spectacle of A Police State: This Is Martial Law Without A Formal Declaration Of War – OpEd
Rather, the Deep State refers to the entrenched network of unelected bureaucrats, intelligence agencies, military contractors, surveillance firms, and corporate lobbyists that operate beyond the reach of democratic accountability. It is a government within a government—an intelligence-industrial complex that persists regardless of who sits in the Oval Office and whose true allegiance lies not with the Constitution but with power, profit, and control.
In other words, the Deep State doesn’t just survive presidential administrations—it recruits them. And in Trump, it has found a showman willing to turn its agenda into a public performance of raw power—militarized, theatrical, and loyal not to the Constitution, but to dominance.
Trump suggests using military against ‘enemy from within’ on Election Day
(October 13, 2024)
“I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people. Radical left lunatics,” Trump said told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo in an interview on “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“I think it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen,” he added.
Trump warns that LA military deployment could be first ‚of many‘ in response to ICE protests
President Donald Trump and his administration officials warned that the use of the military in response to protests against his immigration crackdown may not be limited to just Los Angeles, saying it could be the first „of many“ — and that protesters could be met with „equal or greater force.“
Trump orders Marines to Los Angeles as protests escalate over immigration raids, demonstrating the president’s power to deploy troops on US soil
Under the Insurrection Act, which was signed into law in 1807, a president can deploy troops during what is called an insurrection, simply meaning when all hell breaks loose. The president can decide that it is “impracticable,” according to the Insurrection Act, to enforce the laws of the U.S. in a given city, and he may call forth the military or the National Guard to help restore law and order.
In order to invoke the Insurrection Act, the president first has to make a proclamation to those he calls the insurrectionists to cease and desist. Unless the alleged insurrectionists immediately do what the president says, the president then has the authority to deploy forces.
Trump has repeatedly called the protesters in Los Angeles “insurrectionists,” but has also walked those remarks back and hasn’t made any kind of formal proclamation yet. When Trump ordered California’s National Guard members to deploy to Los Angeles on June 7, he did so on a narrow statutory authority to protect federal buildings, properties and personnel that were trying to enforce immigration laws.
Trump seizes on Los Angeles protests in contentious use of military amid migrant crackdown
(June 9, 2025)
A threat by the defense secretary to deploy a force whose battle honors include Belleau Wood, Iwo Jima and Fallujah onto American streets does not only offend principles of democratic republican government. It would almost certainly be illegal, unless Trump invokes the Insurrection Act. At this point, the conditions of that legislation look nowhere near being met. Trump said Sunday he was not yet ready to invoke the act.
Still, all this is chilling given his warning last year that he’d be prepared to use the military against “the enemy from within.”
All Roads Lead to Dark Winter
(April 1, 2020)
The leaders of two controversial pandemic simulations that took place just months before the Coronavirus crisis – Event 201 and Crimson Contagion – share a common history, the 2001 biowarfare simulation Dark Winter. Dark Winter not only predicted the 2001 anthrax attacks, but some of its participants had clear foreknowledge of those attacks.
Pelosi demands Trump clarify deployment of unidentified law enforcement in DC
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday demanded that President Trump provide a list of the agencies involved in deploying law enforcement officers around Washington, D.C., in response to the crowds of demonstrators protesting police brutality.
Some officers policing protests in the city in recent days have been seen without any identifying labels on their uniforms, raising questions about which law enforcement agencies they represent.
James Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the Constitution
We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. At the same time, we must remember Lincoln’s “better angels,” and listen to them, as we work to unite.
Only by adopting a new path—which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals—will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad.
I Cannot Remain Silent
(02.06.2020)
I remain confident in the professionalism of our men and women in uniform. They will serve with skill and with compassion. They will obey lawful orders. But I am less confident in the soundness of the orders they will be given by this commander in chief, and I am not convinced that the conditions on our streets, as bad as they are, have risen to the level that justifies a heavy reliance on military troops. Certainly, we have not crossed the threshold that would make it appropriate to invoke the provisions of the Insurrection Act.
Furthermore, I am deeply worried that as they execute their orders, the members of our military will be co-opted for political purposes.
Un-identified military personnel extend perimeter around the White House
They were dressed in mixed riot gear, with helmets and face masks, shields and guns loaded with crowd control agents.
Pentagon chief does not support invoking Insurrection Act
„I‘ve always believed and continue to believe that the National Guard is best suited for performing domestic support to civil authorities in these situations in support of local law enforcement,“ Esper said at a news conference Wednesday.
„I say this not only as secretary of Defense, but also as a former soldier and a former member of the National Guard, the option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations,“ he added. „We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act.“
10 U.S. Code § 252. Use of militia and armed forces to enforce Federal authority
Whenever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, he may call into Federal service such of the militia of any State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to enforce those laws or to suppress the rebellion.
Proteste in den USA: Darf Trump das Militär einsetzen?
An einigen Stellen lässt der Insurrection Act allerdings Interpretationsspielraum. So ist nicht klar geregelt, ob der Präsident auch ohne Zustimmung eines Gouverneurs militärisch einschreiten darf. Rechtsexperten haben dazu unterschiedliche Meinungen.
Trump stokes backlash with threat to use military against protesters
Governors in 28 states, as well as the District of Columbia, have activated their National Guards to help with crowd control, with the Guard Bureau saying Tuesday that 20,400 soldiers were responding to “civil unrest.”
Trump, though, is pushing for a fiercer response to quash the protests. In remarks Monday evening, he threatened to deploy troops across the country if governors do not “dominate” the protesters.
Senior defense official says President Trump has not invoked the Insurrection Act
(8 hours ago)
Trump says he will deploy military if state officials can‘t contain protest violence
The president said he was an „ally of all peaceful protesters“ as police and the National Guard forced protesters away from the White House.
O‘Brien: Trump won‘t assume control of National Guard amid protests over George Floyd death
White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien said Sunday that the Trump administration will not assume control of the National Guard amid protests erupting over the death of George Floyd.
“We’re not going to federalize the Guard at this time,” O’Brien told reporters at the White House, according to Reuters.
‘Don’t Ever Tell Law Enforcement to Shoot to Kill Your Own People’ – A dispatch from the brink of catastrophe
At least 25 cities across 16 states have imposed curfews as widespread protests continue.
This tense moment calls to mind another. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, survivors searched for food and supplies, and tried to make it out of the flooded city. The national media fixated on scenes of “looting” and repeated rumors of “snipers,” describing New Orleans as a “city under siege.” President George W. Bush considered invoking the Insurrection Act, which gives the president the power to deploy military troops within the United States.
Crossing State lines to incite violence is a FEDERAL CRIME! Liberal Governors and Mayors must get MUCH tougher or the Federal Government will step in and do what has to be done, and that includes using the unlimited power of our Military and many arrests. Thank you!
(30.05.2020)
Exclusive: The US Military Is Monitoring Protests in 7 States
(30.05.2020)
The US military is monitoring protests in at least seven states, according to Defense Department documents obtained exclusively by The Nation.
In addition to Minnesota, where a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd, the military is tracking uprisings in New York, Ohio, Colorado, Arizona, Tennessee, and Kentucky, according to a Defense Department situation report. Notably, only Minnesota has requested National Guard support.
10 U.S. Code § 252. Use of militia and armed forces to enforce Federal authority
Whenever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, he may call into Federal service such of the militia of any State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to enforce those laws or to suppress the rebellion.
Posse Comitatus Act
There are a number of situations in which the Act does not apply. These include:
– National Guard units, state defense forces, and naval militias[15] while under the authority of the governor of a state. However, only the National Guard can be federalized under 10 U.S.C. § 12406, which shifts control from the state governor to the President, making them subject to the PCA as well.
– Federal troops used in accordance to the Insurrection Act, as was the case with the 1st Marine Division and 7th Infantry Division being sent to curtail the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
Trump, Pentagon offer active-duty military forces and intelligence to help quell Minnesota unrest
Gov. Tim Walz (D.) acknowledged the offer as he announced that he was mobilizing the entire Minnesota National Guard. He did so after several nights of rioting in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed in police custody this week in Minneapolis while handcuffed and on video.
Walz downplayed the significance of the Pentagon’s offer to send U.S. armed forces, saying that “this has happened before” where groups from the 82nd Airborne Division and other parts of the Army are put “on readiness.”
“They’re not talking about mobilizing the entire United States Army,” Walz said. “We’re probably talking about in the neighborhood of several hundred” soldiers.