President Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that he could invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 and allow the U.S. military to be used for law enforcement purposes.
National Guard members and Marines, called to Los Angeles by President Trump to prevent violent protests, can otherwise only serve in support roles.
"If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We will see," he said.
The last time the Insurrection Act of 1807 was invoked was in 1992, when President George H.W. Bush ordered the National Guard, at the request of the state, to head to Los Angeles in response to riots following the trial of four acquitted police officers involved in the Rodney King beating. By the time the National Guard arrived, the riots had mostly died down, according to the Brennan Center.
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This time, the National Guard was deployed without the support of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Speaking to reporters, President Trump alleged there were “paid insurrectionists” among the protesters.
The protests are in response to President Trump’s immigration policies.
"If we didn't get involved, Los Angeles would be burning. Los Angeles right now would be on fire, and we have it in great shape. We are not playing around," President Trump claimed on Tuesday.
The president told reporters that he spoke to Newsom on Monday.
“Called him up to tell him, got to do a better job, he's doing a bad job. Causing a lot of death and a lot of potential death,” President Trump said.
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Newsom responded, stating he did not talk to President Trump.
“There was no call. Not even a voicemail,” Newsom said. “Americans should be alarmed that a President deploying Marines onto our streets doesn’t even know who he’s talking to.”
On Monday, President Trump hinted that he would support Newsom’s arrest, although he could not cite specific charges.
House Speaker Mike Johnson did not weigh in on whether Newsom should be arrested but did say he should be subjected to a public form of humiliation.
“I'm not going to give you legal analysis on whether Gavin Newsom should be arrested but he ought to be tarred and feathered, I'll say that. He's standing in the way of the administration carrying out federal law. He is applauding bad guys and standing in the way of good guys,” he said.
