Los Angeles is on fire — both literally and figuratively. Chaos has erupted in the streets with violent riots, mass looting, and officers under attack.
President Donald Trump now drops a bombshell: he’s “certainly” considering invoking a centuries-old 1807 law to crack down on the unrest.
Los Angeles has descended into chaos.
What started as peaceful protests in Latino neighborhoods quickly spiraled into fiery unrest as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents intensified their raids across the city. Residents poured into the streets demanding answers, but what they got instead was a military response — ordered directly by Donald Trump.
Over the weekend, the former president deployed 2,000 National Guard troops to the Los Angeles area. And when the situation didn’t cool down? He doubled down.
By Monday night (June 9), another 2,000 troops had been sent in. And if that wasn’t enough, the Pentagon added 700 U.S. Marines into the mix.
But Trump wasn’t done.
“If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We’ll see,” he warned during a press briefing on Tuesday.
Used before
He’s referring to the Insurrection Act of 1807, a rarely used but powerful law that allows presidents to send active-duty military into American cities to take control during periods of extreme unrest. The last time it was used in LA? During the 1992 riots following the Rodney King verdict.
President Ulysses S. Grant used the Insurrection Act in the aftermath of the Civil War to combat a surge in racial violence, particularly from the Ku Klux Klan, which was terrorizing Black communities in the South.
Years later, in 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower turned to the same law to enforce school desegregation. He sent in the U.S. Army to ensure that nine African-American students could safely enter Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas after the state’s governor refused to comply with a federal mandate to integrate the school.
And now, Trump is threatening to use it again.
”What you’re witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and national sovereignty, carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion of our country,” he told troops at Fort Bragg on Tuesday.
”This anarchy will not stand. We will not allow federal agents to be attacked, and we will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy.”
Historically, the U.S. government has avoided using military force within its own borders — particularly against American citizens. If Trump decides to activate the Insurrection Act, it’s still uncertain what kind of legal pushback or constitutional hurdles he could encounter.
Trump hits back after Gavin Newsom’s speech
California Governor Gavin Newsom has fiercely opposed Trump’s military crackdown.
”I have formally requested the Trump Administration rescind their unlawful deployment of troops in Los Angeles county and return them to my command.”
”We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved. This is a serious breach of state sovereignty — inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they’re actually needed.”
In a passionate televised address, Newsom accused Trump of using force as political theater: Speaking solemnly in front of the U.S. and California flags, he didn’t mince words about the broader implications of Trump’s actions.
“California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next,” he warned.
His message grew even more urgent as he addressed the growing unrest and federal intervention.
“Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived.”
Tensions are rising in several cities
But Trump, in typical fashion, fired back on Truth Social:
“If Governor Gavin Newscum [sic], of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can’t do their jobs, which everyone knows they can’t, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!”
With National Guard troops now tasked with not only protecting buildings but also ICE agents during immigration raids, tensions are rising fast — not just in LA, but nationwide. Major cities like New York, Chicago, Seattle, Denver, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Austin are all seeing similar protests erupt.
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