
National Guard in LA: What they can do after Trump called them in to quell protests
Amid days of fiery protests against federal immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, President Trump signed an order deploying the National Guard — despite objection from the state's Democratic leaders.
The big picture: Trump's Saturday memorandum called up 2,000 National Guard troops for 60 days, but it stopped short of a possibly more dramatic escalation: invoking the Insurrection Act.
Context: The demonstrations again have pitted Trump against Governor Gavin Newsom (D), one of the president's top foes who has called the deployment of troops in the LA area "unlawful" and "a serious breach of state sovereignty."
Newsom said that the state would sue the Trump administration over its deployment of the National Guard, calling it an "unconstitutional act" in an interview with MSNBC.
As of Sunday, dozens of people had been arrested amid the unrest that was becoming "increasingly worse and more violent," LAPD officials said.
What did Trump's National Guard memorandum do?
Trump's presidential memorandum federalizing troops cited 10 U.S.C. 12406, a provision that allows the president to call members of a state's National Guard whenever, among other situations, there a "a rebellion" or "the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States."
The White House's memorandum said that to the extent that protests "directly inhibit the execution of the laws," they constitute a rebellion.
It marks the first time in some six decades, dating back to the civil rights movement, that the president has activated a state's National Guard without the state's governor requesting it, the Brennan Center for Justice's Elizabeth Goitein told The New York Times.
Around 300 members of the California Army National Guard's 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team had deployed throughout the greater LA area as of Sunday.
Zoom in: The president tasked units with temporarily protecting ICE and other personnel performing "[f[ederal functions" and to protect federal property.
He also authorized Hegseth to use regular troops "as necessary" to augment the protection of federal functions and property.
Between the lines: Steve Vladeck, a law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, wrote in his analysis of Trump's memorandum that the National Guard will have limited enforcement capabilities and will not be able to engage in ordinary law enforcement activity.
"[T]his provision provides no additional substantive authority that the federal government did not already possess," he wrote, pointing to a law that bars federal troops from engaging in civilian law enforcement except when authorized.
What is The Posse Comitatus Act?
The Posse Comitatus Act, which is more than 140 years old, was originally passed to ensure the federal military wouldn't be used to intervene in establishing Jim Crow after Reconstruction, per the Brennan Center.
A "posse comitatus" in American law is a group of people mobilized by a sheriff to stifle lawlessness and means"the power of the county."
In practice, it means federal military personnel can't participate in civilian law enforcement — though there are statutory exceptions, according to the Brennan Center.
When Guard members are called into federal service, they become part of the federal armed forces and are thereby covered by the Act.
Will Trump invoke the Insurrection Act?
The Insurrection Act provides the primary exception to the Posse Comitatus Act, allowing the president to deploy military members for civilian law enforcement.
According to the Brennan Center, there are three sections of the Act covering different situations in which troops can be deployed — two of which do not require a request from the affected state and permit deployment even against the state's wishes.
Flashback: The Act has been invoked at several points in American history, most recently in 1992.
In that case, President George H.W. Bush responded to a request for aid from California officials amid civil unrest prompted by the acquittal of four white police officers who were filmed beating a Black motorist Rodney King.
What he's saying: Trump in his first term flirted with the idea of using the U.S. military for domestic law enforcement and to crush protests. And ahead of his second term, he seemingly continued to lean in.
Trump said he would deploy U.S. military "if a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents" during nationwide protests in 2020 sparked by the murder of George Floyd.
What we're watching: U.S. Northern Command said in a Sunday statement some 500 Marines are also prepared to deploy if necessary, a move Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously floated.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CBS News
14 minutes ago
- CBS News
Rallyers in Denver demonstrating against ICE arrests march down the middle of Lincoln Street
A large gathering that started out at the Colorado State Capitol to rally against the growing numbers of deportations of people in Colorado and the country illegally became a march down a Denver street on Tuesday evening. Demonstrators march down the middle of Lincoln Street in Denver on Tuesday night. CBS Hundreds of protesters first gathered at the Colorado State Capitol at the start of the evening. By 6:15 p.m. they started a march down the middle of Lincoln Street. The march made it temporarily impossible for all lanes of traffic to get through. The White House has directed Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to step up daily arrests. CBS News reports the goal is to make 3,000 arrests a day nationwide. Protesters have also taken to the streets in other cities, including Dallas and San Francisco, and Los Angeles is in the midst of a fifth day of protests over federal immigration raids. On Monday evening in California, tensions boiled over following a day of peaceful demonstrations. President Trump has doubled the number of National Guard troops being sent to patrol the city to 4,000 -- a number that Los Angeles city officials say vastly outnumbers the protesters -- and has said they will remain there indefinitely. There were security concerns leading up to Tuesday's demonstration in Denver, but everything has been peaceful so far. Groups have been protesting ICE for months now, but their message is even louder given the recent events in L.A. In a protest in Aurora on Monday organizers said they want to show solidarity with what's happening in California. Organizers say they're demanding an end to what they call targeted raids in immigrant communities that are tearing families apart. Some people in Denver called for ICE to be abolished altogether, while others want state and local law enforcement to stop cooperating with federal immigration agents. Many in Colorado held signs and chanted against immigration enforcement. One protester said she knows the pain of deportation personally. "My dad was deported a couple years back and I know how it feels to have family separated and struggle with that. And I don't want anybody else to go through that. Because I know my mom suffered. I suffered, and it's really traumatic and I don't want anyone to feel that way," she said. Denver police, Colorado State Patrol, and other agencies say they're monitoring the protest and are ready to respond if necessary.


CBS News
15 minutes ago
- CBS News
Los Angeles mayor announces curfew as anti-ICE protests continue downtown
Mayor Karen Bass announced a curfew for downtown Los Angeles as anti-ICE protests continued on Tuesday. The curfew will begin at 8 p.m. tonight, last until Wednesday morning, and apply to one square mile of downtown L.A. For five consecutive days, protesters and law enforcement have lined the streets of downtown, resulting in nearly 200 arrests. Some of the encounters between demonstrators and police turned violent at times. The demonstrations started on Friday after several immigration raids in the Westlake District, downtown and South LA. Crowds quickly formed around federal agents during the operations. Some individuals attempted to prevent authorities from placing individuals into vans. The nearly week-long protest caught the attention of President Trump, who deployed thousands of troops from the California National Guard and 700 U.S. Marines to protect federal buildings, against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom. "Donald Trump is putting fuel on this fire. Commandeering a state's National Guard without consulting the Governor of that state is illegal and immoral," Newsom wrote Sunday on X. "California will be taking him to court."


New York Post
15 minutes ago
- New York Post
Mikie Sherrill beats crowded field to become Democratic candidate for NJ governor
US Rep. and former prosecutor and Navy helicopter pilot Mikie Sherrill will be the state's Democratic nominee for governor in November after defeating five Dem opponents in Tuesday's party primary. Sherrill, 53, a mother of four and four-term congresswoman representing parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties, garnered an early lead in pre-primary polling in large part because of her impressive resume, which included a stint as a federal prosecutor. She tallied 34.6% of the vote when the Associated Press projected her to win at 8:39 p.m. ET. Advertisement Rep. Mikie Sherrill has won New Jersey's Democratic primary for governor. AP Photo/Heather Khalifa Sherill of Montclair beat out Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, US Rep. Josh Gottheimer, New Jersey Education Association union President Sean Spiller and former state Sen. Steve Sweeney for the nod. Fulop was netting 17.8% of the vote and Baraka, Gottheimer, Spiller and Sweeney all had less than 14% support when the race was called. Advertisement In addition to Sherill enjoying a solid polling lead heading into the primary, she also had won the support of much of the Garden State's Democratic Party apparatus. In Congress, Sherrill serves on the House Committee on Armed Services and its Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. She also is a member of caucuses including the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, the New Democrat Coalition and the Rare Disease Caucus. Her campaign centered around the affordability crisis in Jersey affecting everything from healthcare costs to grocery prices. She also regularly spoke out against the Trump administration as well as Elon Musk, accusing them of working to 'dismantle' social programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Sherrill pledged if elected as governor to work to lower prescription drug costs while requiring more transparency in healthcare pricing and directing the state's attorney general to go after practices such as price gouging, monopolies and insurers denying coverage. Advertisement Sherrill posing for photos with supporters at a 'Get Out the Vote' rally in Elizabeth on June 7, 2025. AP Photo/Heather Khalifa She also champions shared services for municipalities and school districts to help spread some of the cost around in an effort to lower property taxes and supports the expansion of the state's Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit. The New Jersey gubernatorial election is scheduled for Nov. 4.