Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced late Saturday night that in addition to the National Guardsmen — who were being deployed to resto...
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced late Saturday night that in addition to the National Guardsmen — who were being deployed to restore order in Los Angeles — he was placing active duty U.S. Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton on high alert.
Hegseth’s announcement, made via a post on X, came just hours after it was reported that President Donald Trump was deploying a number of National Guard troops as protesters clashed violently with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents across the Los Angeles area.
“The violent mob assaults on ICE and Federal Law Enforcement are designed to prevent the removal of Criminal Illegal Aliens from our soil; a dangerous invasion facilitated by criminal cartels (aka Foreign Terrorist Organizations) and a huge NATIONAL SECURITY RISK. Under President Trump, violence & destruction against federal agents & federal facilities will NOT be tolerated. It’s COMMON SENSE,” Hegseth said.
“The @DeptofDefense is mobilizing the National Guard IMMEDIATELY to support federal law enforcement in Los Angeles. And, if violence continues, active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized — they are on high alert,” he added.
Under normal circumstances, the Posse Comitatus Act prevents the federal government from deploying the military for law enforcement purposes within the United States’ borders, but the Insurrection Act of 1807 — actually a combination of several statutes enacted between 1792 and 1871 — stands as the one major exception to that. Trump could potentially rely on the Insurrection Act when defending his decision to send troops in to quell the unrest in Los Angeles.
Under the Insurrection Act, the federal government can mobilize the military domestically in order to enforce the law or quell rebellion under certain circumstances. It implements Congress’ Constitutional authority to “provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.”
The law can be implemented if and when a U.S. president determines that “unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion” have arisen such that it becomes “impracticable to enforce” U.S. laws and maintain order “by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings.”