As protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies flared across Los Angeles over the weekend, questions have arisen about whether he would—or could—invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, and send active duty U.S. military to quell the rioting and vandalism.
The law allows the president to deploy the National Guard or other U.S. military personnel to put down an uprising that interferes with the rights of the populace if “the constituted authorities of that state are unable, fail, or refuse” to do so.
