Protests in Los Angeles are entering their fourth day over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
President Donald Trump, over the weekend, referred to as protesters “violent, insurrectionist mobs” after he deployed the Nationwide Guard regardless of objections from California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The escalatory step is prompting a number of authorized questions, together with how far Trump is keen to go to make use of his authority to curb protests over his administration’s immigration raids.
President Donald Trump arrives at Hagerstown Regional Airport, en path to Camp David, in Hagerstown, Maryland, June 8, 2025.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
On Sunday, Trump was requested by ABC Information Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott if he’s ready to invoke the 1807 Rebellion Act. The final time the act was used was in 1992 throughout the Los Angeles riots.
“Will depend on whether or not or not there may be an rebel,” Trump replied.
When requested by Scott if he thought an rebel was going down in Los Angeles, Trump replied, “No, no. However you’ve violent individuals, and we’re not going to allow them to get away with it,” Trump mentioned on the time. However by Sunday night time, he was referring to the protesters on his Reality Social platform as “violent, insurrectionist mobs” and “paid insurrectionists.”
Requested to outline rebel, Trump mentioned, “You truly actually simply have to have a look at the positioning to see what’s taking place.”
Trump notably didn’t rule out sending active-duty Marines to California after Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth mentioned they had been standing by. A U.S. official confirmed on Monday afternoon that 700 Marines from Twentynine Palms, California, have been ordered to help in Los Angeles.
The bar for sending active-duty Marines? “The bar is what I believe is,” Trump had mentioned on Sunday.
What to know concerning the Rebellion Act
Usually, using federal troops on U.S. soil is generally prohibited. The 1878 Posse Comitatus Act limits the navy from being concerned in civilian legislation enforcement until Congress approves it or underneath circumstances “expressly licensed by the Structure.”
One exception is the Rebellion Act, a 218-year-old legislation signed by President Thomas Jefferson.
The Rebellion Act states, partially: “At any time when there may be an rebel in any State in opposition to its authorities, the President could, upon the request of its legislature or of its governor if the legislature can’t be convened, name into Federal service such of the militia of the opposite States, within the quantity requested by that State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers essential to suppress the rebel.”
One other provision states it may be used “each time the President considers that illegal obstructions, combos, or assemblages, or insurrection in opposition to the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to implement the legal guidelines of america in any State by the strange course of judicial proceedings.”
Some legal experts have warned the legislation is overly broad and obscure, and there have been numerous requires it to be reformed to supply higher checks on presidential energy.
Scenes from downtown Los Angeles after the Los Angeles Riots Might 2, 1992.
Paul Harris/Getty Pictures
Nationwide Guard troops deployed to the College of Alabama to power its desegregation, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, June 11, 1963.
Shel Hershorn/Getty Pictures
The Rebellion Act has been invoked in response to 30 crises over its historical past, in accordance with the Brennan Heart for Justice, together with by presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy to desegregate faculties after the Supreme Court docket’s landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Schooling.
Most of its makes use of concerned federal troops being deployed, although a number of conditions had been resolved after troops had been ordered to reply however earlier than they arrived on the scene, the Brennan Heart famous.
When it was final utilized in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to ship the Nationwide Guard to Los Angeles, it was on the request of then-Gov. Pete Wilson as riots exploded within the metropolis after the acquittal of 4 white cops charged within the beating of Rodney King.
If Trump had been to invoke the act, he would doubtless be doing so in opposition to Newsom’s needs — one thing that hasn’t been carried out since President Lyndon B. Johnson within the Sixties to cope with civil unrest.
How Trump mobilized the Nationwide Guard
Trump didn’t invoke the Rebellion Act when he activated and deployed the Nationwide Guard to Los Angeles.
As a substitute, he cited Title 10 of the U.S. Code — which incorporates a provision that enables the president to name on federal service members when there “is a insurrection or hazard of insurrection in opposition to the authority of the Authorities of america” or when “the President is unable with the common forces to execute the legal guidelines of america.”
Based on a presidential memorandum, Trump mentioned he was sending the Nationwide Guard to “briefly shield ICE and different United States Authorities personnel who’re performing Federal capabilities, together with the enforcement of Federal legislation, and to guard Federal property, at places the place protests in opposition to these capabilities are occurring or are more likely to happen based mostly on present menace assessments and deliberate operations.”
Police detain a demonstrator throughout a protest in opposition to federal immigration sweeps in downtown Los Angeles, June 8, 2025.
Mike Blake/Reuters
The memo acknowledged that 2,000 Nationwide Guard troops may very well be deployed for 60 days or “on the discretion” of Hegseth.
Troops referred to as up underneath Title 10 fall typically are prevented from direct involvement in legislation enforcement duties underneath the Posse Comitatus Act, until Trump invokes the Rebellion Act or different restricted exceptions apply.
Newsom mentioned on Monday the state is suing the administration over Trump deploying the Nationwide Guard.
“He flamed the fires and illegally acted to federalize the Nationwide Guard,” Newsom wrote on social media. “The order he signed does not simply apply to CA. It would permit him to enter ANY STATE and do the identical factor. We’re suing him.”
