President Trump should consider invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty troops to Los Angeles if the National Guard isn’t able to stamp out violent riots plaguing the city, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) argued in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Tuesday.
Cotton’s call comes almost five years to the date that he made the case for using the 1807 law to quell nationwide riots after the death of George Floyd, during Trump’s first term.
“Violent insurrectionists turned areas of Los Angeles into lawless hellscapes over the weekend, with anarchists setting fire to vehicles, throwing scooters and debris at police, and looting businesses — all while waving foreign flags,” the Arkansas Republican wrote in the WSJ.
The anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles, Cotton argued, are worse than the summer 2020 riots because of the presence of Mexican and Palestinian flags.
“Democrats also stood idly by or even celebrated as the Black Lives Matter riots ransacked our cities five years ago,” the senator wrote. “If anything, these riots are worse.”
“At least the BLM rioters didn’t wave foreign flags.”
Trump, 78, has dispatched 4,000 National Guard soldiers and 700 active-duty Marines to help maintain order in LA and protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as they serve arrest warrants in the city.
“If the Guard alone can’t restore order and protect federal officers and property, the president can use active-duty troops under the Insurrection Act of 1807, a law almost as old as the republic,” Cotton reminded the commander in chief.
“Thus far, Mr. Trump has taken a measured approach and said he doesn’t yet see a need to invoke the Insurrection Act,” he added. “Let’s hope that the National Guard, federal law enforcement and local police can end the anarchy and restore order to Los Angeles.”
“In addition to the overwhelming show of force, Congress also needs to show our support for federal law enforcement,” Cotton continued, announcing that he will introduce legislation to “stiffen penalties for rioters who attack law enforcement and to make riot-related crimes a deportable offense for noncitizens.”
Cotton’s 2020 New York Times op-ed, titled “Send in the Troops,” led to outrage within the walls of The Gray Lady.
Under pressure from staffers, the Times attached a lengthy note to Cotton’s piece indicating that the editorial process was “rushed” and that “senior editors were not sufficiently involved.”
Cotton’s piece this time around was titled, “Send In the Troops, for Real.”
The Insurrection Act was last used by former President George H.W. Bush in 1992 to stem the riots that broke out in Los Angeles after four cops were acquitted of beating Rodney King.
The act authorizes the president to use military force domestically to suppress insurrections, rebellions, or civil disorder.
It serves as an exception to the Posse Comitatus Act, which generally prohibits military involvement in civilian law enforcement.
“If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We’ll see,” Trump has said about using the 19th-century law.
