President Donald Trump left the door open on Tuesday to using the Insurrection Act to address protests in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles is entering its fifth day of demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities in the city, though Trump said the situation is under better control as a result of his intervention.
“If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, referring to the Insurrection Act. “We’ll see. But I can tell you, last night was terrible. The night before that was terrible.”
The Insurrection Act allows the president to deploy military forces within the United States to quell violence and unrest and to enforce the law in certain situations. It was used during the Civil War and by President Bill Clinton during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
Since Friday, demonstrations against ICE raids in Los Angeles have grown increasingly tumultuous, including clashes between protesters and law enforcement officers and destruction of property. The Trump administration has repeatedly referred to the individuals engaged in such activities as “paid insurrectionists” and said Tuesday that some things taking place in Los Angeles the prior night could be called an insurrection.
Against the wishes of leaders in California, both in Congress and state leadership, Trump mobilized the National Guard in California to address protests. Gov. Gavin Newsom described the decision as intentionally inflammatory and sued the Trump administration in response.
Since then, Trump bolstered federal presence in Los Angeles by deploying the 700 Marines to assist law enforcement efforts.
“If we didn’t get involved right now, Los Angeles would be burning just like it was burning a number of months ago, with all the houses that were lost. Los Angeles right now would be on fire, and we have it in great shape,” Trump said.
Trump said the National Guard would stay in Los Angeles until there was no more danger.
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Violet Jira is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.