President Trump and the Insurrection Act of 1807
10 USC 251 “Whenever there is an insurrection in any State against its government, the President may, upon the request of its legislature or of its governor if the legislature cannot be convened, call into Federal service such of the militia of the other States, in the number requested by that State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to suppress the insurrection.”
10 USC 252 “Whenever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, he may call into Federal service such of the militia of any State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to enforce those laws or to suppress the rebellion.”
10 USC 253 “The President, by using the militia or the armed forces, or both, or by any other means, shall take such measures as he considers necessary to suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy, if it—
(1) so hinders the execution of the laws of that State, and of the United States within the State, that any part or class of its people is deprived of a right, privilege, immunity, or protection named in the Constitution and secured by law, and the constituted authorities of that State are unable, fail, or refuse to protect that right, privilege, or immunity, or to give that protection; or
(2) opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws.”
The Insurrection Act has been used sparingly -- in labor disputes such as the Pullman Railroad Strike in Chicago and during periods of racial strife such as the desegregation of the South after the Civil War and again during the Civil Rights era to protect the safety of African-American citizens. It was last used in 1992 during the LA riots reacting to the acquittal of the LAPD police officers, who had been filmed beating an unarmed motorist, Rodney King. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurrection_Act_of_1807
It does not strike me that we have any rebellion or insurrection going on, but rather some righteous and very long-overdue nationwide protests about the killings of black men and women by police. There is some opportunistic looting and vandalism that needs to be stopped by local and state authorities, but there is no cause for militarizing and inflaming the situation. My guess is that the President is taking the opportunity to look tough for the cameras and his supporters as he tries to regain the nation’s favor after his utterly disastrous handling of the nation’s medical and economic crises. After all, we have over 100,000 Americans dead and over 40 million citizens lost their jobs because he was asleep at the switch and ignoring his intelligence agencies and health advisors as the Covid 19 virus took root and ran rampant across our nation. It is of course always possible that this is a dry run for his reaction to try to maintain power, if and after losing the Presidential election in the fall. There is literally nothing the President has ever done to earn the nation’s trust and confidence in any crisis situation such as this impacting the lives and safety of African Americans, rather he has always taken every available opportunity to inflame race relations — a pattern of behavior that goes back decades to the Central Park 5.
Prepared by: Lucien Wulsin
Dated: 6/2/20