What Is the Insurrection Act — Did Trump Invoke It, and When Was It Last Used?

President Donald Trump is openly considering invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act to quell mounting unrest in Los Angeles, where hundreds of Marines and National Guard troops now patrol downtown streets amid an unprecedented federal confrontation with California that has triggered a constitutional crisis over states' rights and presidential power.

The extraordinary standoff reached a new threshold on Tuesday night as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass imposed an emergency curfew across one square mile of downtown, declaring 'we have reached a tipping point' after 23 businesses were looted and nearly 470 people arrested during five consecutive nights of civil disorder.

'If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We'll see. But I can tell you, last night was terrible. The night before that was terrible,' Trump told reporters at the White House Oval Office.

'If we didn't send in the national guard quickly, right now, Los Angeles would be burning to the ground,' Trump said.

The president also warned critics he is using the California standoff to flex authority in Democratic-run states. 'I can inform the rest of the country, when they do it, if they do it, they will be met with equal or greater force than we met here,' Trump said.

Trump's deployment of 2,700 federal troops against the explicit wishes of California Governor Gavin Newsom represents the first time in six decades that a US president has federalised state National Guard units without gubernatorial consent—a move legal experts warn tests the constitutional boundaries of executive authority.

'Bad People' and 'Animals' Spark Constitutional Crisis

Speaking from the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump defended his unprecedented military intervention in language that recalled his most divisive rhetoric, describing protesters as 'bad people' and 'animals' who were poised to burn down America's second-largest city.

'If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We'll see. But I can tell you, last night was terrible. The night before that was terrible,' Trump told reporters, keeping alive the possibility of activating powers not used since the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

The president's inflammatory characterisation of demonstrators—whom he alternately labelled 'paid insurrectionists,' 'agitators,' and members of 'violent insurrectionist mobs,' has inflamed tensions whilst providing potential legal justification for even more dramatic federal intervention.
'If we didn't send in the National Guard quickly, right now, Los Angeles would be burning to the ground,' Trump claimed, though the protests have remained largely confined to a five-block radius of downtown federal buildings with no deaths reported.

What is the Insurrection Act?

The Insurrection Act of 1807 is the US federal law that empowers the president of the United States to nationally deploy the US military and to federalize the National Guard units of the individual states in specific circumstances, such as the suppression of civil disorder, of insurrection, and armed rebellion against the federal government of the US.

The Insurrection Act provides a statutory exception to the Posse Comitatus Act (1878) that limits the president's deployment of the US military to enforce either civil law or criminal law within the United States.

After invoking and before exercising the powers authorized under the Insurrection Act, Title 10 U.S.C. § 254 requires the publication of a presidential proclamation whereby the U.S. President formally orders the dispersion of the people committing civil unrest or armed rebellion.

Raids and Deployment of the National Guard

In a related development, immigration raids continued across the country amid a curfew in Los Angeles, where the centre of protests that spread coast to coast against the detention and removal of suspected undocumented migrants.

LA Mayor Karen Bass said the curfew, which begins at 8 pm and expires at 6 am for an undetermined time, was necessary to quell unrest. 'If you drive through downtown, the graffiti is everywhere and has caused significant damage,' Bass said, adding that 29 businesses were looted Monday night alone.

Historical Precedent Meets Modern Politics

The potential invocation of the Insurrection Act would mark only the second time in over three decades that a president has considered using the 1807 law, which empowers the federal government to deploy military forces domestically during civil disorder, insurrection, or armed rebellion.

The law was last activated during the catastrophic 1992 Los Angeles riots, when President George HW Bush deployed 4,000 soldiers and Marines after widespread violence that killed dozens and destroyed entire neighbourhoods. However, that deployment came at California's request—a stark contrast to the current constitutional confrontation.

Legal scholars note that no president has federalised a state's National Guard against gubernatorial wishes since 1965, when Lyndon Johnson sent troops to Alabama to protect civil rights activists marching from Selma to Montgomery.

The last time a US president invoked the Insurrection Act was 1992, when George W Bush used it to deploy troops during the Rodney King riots.

California's lawsuit denies an 'invasion' or 'rebellion,' and says Trump's existing deployment violates the 10th Amendment, which establishes states' rights.

Economic and Social Costs Mount

Pentagon officials estimate the military deployment will cost approximately $134 million, reflecting the extraordinary expense of Trump's confrontational approach to federal-state relations.

As demonstrations spread to dozens of cities nationwide—including New York, Chicago, and Atlanta—the Los Angeles crisis has become a focal point for broader national debates over immigration, protest rights, and the appropriate use of federal force against American citizens.

The standoff continues with no resolution in sight, as federal courts prepare to adjudicate competing claims about presidential authority, whilst military personnel patrol American streets in scenes reminiscent of America's most turbulent historical periods.

The last time a US president invoked the Insurrection Act was 1992, when George W. Bush used it to deploy troops during the Rodney King riots.

California's lawsuit denies an 'invasion' or 'rebellion,' and says Trump's existing deployment violates the 10th Amendment, which establishes states' rights.