Donald Trump is considering invoking the Insurrection Act in case the situation escalates in the city of Los Angeles and accused protesters of being paid to demonstrate against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and detentions.
At the moment, Trump and his administration have already decreed the sending of 4,700 military personnel to the second most populous city in the United States: 4,000 members of the National Guard and 700 marines.
Why does Trump want to invoke a 218-year-old law?
“If there is an insurrection, I will certainly invoke it (...) There were certain areas in Los Angeles where there could have been an insurrection. It has been terrible, but these insurgents have been paid: they are troublemakers who have been paid,” said the President of the United States in statements to the press from the Oval Office.
The Republican president also defended his decision to send military personnel, including Marines to Los Angeles, recalling that he “waited” up to seven days for the governor of Minneapolis, Tim Walz, to decide to deploy the National Guard during the violent protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of the police in his first term. “I told myself: if something like that happens again, we have to make quicker decisions,” Trump commented.
“When there is no danger, they will leave,” said the president in a press conference where he took the opportunity to once again criticize California Governor Gavin Newsom.
What is the Insurrection Act?
The Insurrection Act, signed by President Thomas Jefferson in 1807, establishes the procedure to follow in order to activate the use of military force in times of “rebellion.”
The problem is that its wording is very vague. In one of its paragraphs, it states that the president may use military forces on U.S. territory “whenever the President considers that obstructions, combinations, or illegal assemblies, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws...”.
According to ABC News, the Insurrection Act has been invoked 30 times in the history of the United States, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, including by Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy to desegregate schools following the landmark Supreme Court ruling in 1954.
The last time it was used was in 1992, when George H.W. Bush sent the National Guard to Los Angeles, at the request of Governor Pete Wilson, when riots broke out after the acquittal of four white police officers accused of beating Rodney King.
Trump’s government accuses the president of Mexico
During the same press conference, the US Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, accused the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, of encouraging the protests. “I condemn her for that. She should not encourage the violent protests that are happening”, she commented alongside Trump.
Shortly after, the Mexican president responded through a message on the social media platform X: "A few moments ago, in response to a question from a media outlet, the US Secretary of Homeland Security mistakenly mentioned that I encouraged violent protests in Los Angeles. I inform you that this is absolutely false," she stated.
Sheinbaum emphasized that Mexico’s position will continue to be the “defense” of “honest” and “hardworking” Mexicans who “help the economy of the United States,” as well as their relatives in the Latin American country. “I am sure that dialogue and respect are the best way to understand between our peoples and our nations and that this misunderstanding will be clarified,” she said.