US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he is prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act if protests in Los Angeles escalate into what he defines as an “insurrection.” The comment comes amid ongoing demonstrations now entering its fourth day against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.“If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We’ll see,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, following his recent deployment of around 700 US Marines to Los Angeles in a bid to quell the protests. The National Guard had already been mobilised over the weekend, despite objections from California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.Trump doubled down on his criticism of Newsom, saying they had spoken just a day earlier. He described scenes of destruction during the protests, alleging that demonstrators used hammers to break curbs and repurpose chunks of concrete and granite as weapons.“They were taking that concrete, going up in bridges and dropping it into the roof of a car… They were throwing it at our police… at our soldiers… Los Angeles right now would be on fire,” Trump said. “We’re not playing around.”Asked how he would determine if the situation qualified as an insurrection, Trump pointed to “paid insurrectionists” and “paid troublemakers” among the crowd. “You take a look at what’s happening,” he said. “It was terrible.”The Insurrection Act, a rarely used 1807 law, allows the president to deploy military forces within the United States to suppress civil disorder, insurrection, or rebellion. Trump’s statement marks one of his most direct public signals of willingness to use the statute since nationwide protests began in response to his policies.The legal and political ramifications of invoking the act remain unclear, but experts note that such a move could ignite a constitutional standoff between federal and state authorities.
What is Insurrection Act of 1807
The Insurrection Act of 1807 is a federal statute that empowers the US president to use military force within the United States to suppress civil disorder, insurrection, or armed rebellion. It serves as one of the few legal exceptions to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which generally prohibits the use of federal troops in civilian law enforcement.
Under the Insurrection Act, the president can:
- Deploy active-duty military forces across state lines
- Federalise National Guard units from individual states
- Bypass state governors’ objections in cases deemed severe enough to threaten national security or civil order
When has it been used before?
Historically, US presidents have used the Insurrection Act sparingly — most notably during:
- The 1957 Little Rock crisis to enforce school desegregation
- The 1992 Los Angeles riots after the Rodney King verdict
- After Hurricane Katrina (though the act itself was not formally invoked, expanded powers were considered)