Trump federalizing the California National Guard to put down protests

RuthRuth Shipmate
Trump is calling out the California National Guard in Los Angeles and environs to deal with protests of the immigration raids of workplaces Friday and Saturday. Usually it's the governor who calls out the guard as it's a state institution, but under Title 10 of the US Code the president can call out the guard without the governor's consent.

This isn't unprecedented, but in the current circumstances it's incendiary. The last time the National Guard was called out to deal with protestors was in Los Angeles in 1992, for the Rodney King uprising and riots; this was at the request of the state and came after there was widespread unrest, rioting, and looting for several days, and after a number of people had died. The last time a president federalized a state national guard was 60 years ago, when Johnson activated troops to protect civil rights protestors in Alabama.

Frankly, I think Trump is doing this because people talked him out of calling out the military during the George Floyd protests in 2020 and he wants a do-over, and because of California's image as a liberal state. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is talking about calling up the Marines from Camp Pendleton, a base in northern San Diego County 80-some miles south of LA.

Calling out the military to quell the protests of citizens -- protest leaders advise non-citizens to stay home and not risk arrest -- is fascist. I'm not surprised, to be honest. I just wanted to mark this step in the destruction of American democracy.

The Guardian has good coverage. It talks about Paramount, which won't be familiar to people here; it's a small city in LA County about 9 miles from me that is predominantly Latino and very working class.

Comments

  • This sounds as though it may turn out to be an egregiously false move, rebounding on Trump if (God/gods forbid) it escalates, causing further unrest and violence.

    Thanks for the Guardian link @Ruth - I keep an eye on that particular news outlet, and will look out for further coverage.

  • RuthRuth Shipmate
    I'll be surprised if it doesn't escalate.

    I didn't say this in the OP, but overnight someone said what I'm afraid of. In an article titled "For Trump, This Is a Dress Rehearsal" in The Atlantic (free link) David Frum writes,
    ... if the Trump-Hegseth threats have little purpose as law enforcement, they signify great purpose as political strategy. Since Trump’s reelection, close observers of his presidency have feared a specific sequence of events that could play out ahead of midterm voting in 2026:

    Step 1: Use federal powers in ways to provoke some kind of made-for-TV disturbance—flames, smoke, loud noises, waving of foreign flags.

    Step 2: Invoke the disturbance to declare a state of emergency and deploy federal troops.

    Step 3: Seize control of local operations of government—policing in June 2025; voting in November 2026.

    ...

    If Trump can incite disturbances in blue states before the midterm elections, he can assert emergency powers to impose federal control over the voting process, which is to say his control. Or he might suspend voting until, in his opinion, order has been restored. Either way, blue-state seats could be rendered vacant for some time.

    ...

    Since Trump’s return to the presidency in January, many political observers have puzzled over a seeming paradox. On the one hand, Trump keeps doing corrupt and illegal things. If and when his party loses its majorities in Congress—and thus the ability to protect Trump from investigation and accountability—he will likely face severe legal danger. On the other hand, Trump is doing extreme and unpopular things that seem certain to doom his party’s majorities in the 2026 elections. Doesn’t Trump know that the midterms are coming? Why isn’t he more worried?

    This weekend’s events suggest an answer. Trump knows full well that the midterms are coming. He is worried. But he might already be testing ways to protect himself that could end in subverting those elections’ integrity. So far, the results must be gratifying to him—and deeply ominous to anyone who hopes to preserve free and fair elections in the United States under this corrupt, authoritarian, and lawless presidency.

    I hope this is needless worry, but this is what I'm worried about.
  • Ruth wrote: »
    I'll be surprised if it doesn't escalate.

    I didn't say this in the OP, but overnight someone said what I'm afraid of. In an article titled "For Trump, This Is a Dress Rehearsal" in The Atlantic (free link) David Frum writes,
    ... if the Trump-Hegseth threats have little purpose as law enforcement, they signify great purpose as political strategy. Since Trump’s reelection, close observers of his presidency have feared a specific sequence of events that could play out ahead of midterm voting in 2026:

    Step 1: Use federal powers in ways to provoke some kind of made-for-TV disturbance—flames, smoke, loud noises, waving of foreign flags.

    Step 2: Invoke the disturbance to declare a state of emergency and deploy federal troops.

    Step 3: Seize control of local operations of government—policing in June 2025; voting in November 2026.

    ...

    If Trump can incite disturbances in blue states before the midterm elections, he can assert emergency powers to impose federal control over the voting process, which is to say his control. Or he might suspend voting until, in his opinion, order has been restored. Either way, blue-state seats could be rendered vacant for some time.

    ...

    Since Trump’s return to the presidency in January, many political observers have puzzled over a seeming paradox. On the one hand, Trump keeps doing corrupt and illegal things. If and when his party loses its majorities in Congress—and thus the ability to protect Trump from investigation and accountability—he will likely face severe legal danger. On the other hand, Trump is doing extreme and unpopular things that seem certain to doom his party’s majorities in the 2026 elections. Doesn’t Trump know that the midterms are coming? Why isn’t he more worried?

    This weekend’s events suggest an answer. Trump knows full well that the midterms are coming. He is worried. But he might already be testing ways to protect himself that could end in subverting those elections’ integrity. So far, the results must be gratifying to him—and deeply ominous to anyone who hopes to preserve free and fair elections in the United States under this corrupt, authoritarian, and lawless presidency.

    I hope this is needless worry, but this is what I'm worried about.

    Thanks @Ruth - worrying, indeed.
  • stetsonstetson Shipmate
    edited June 8
    Ruth wrote: »
    I'll be surprised if it doesn't escalate.

    I didn't say this in the OP, but overnight someone said what I'm afraid of. In an article titled "For Trump, This Is a Dress Rehearsal" in The Atlantic (free link) David Frum writes,
    ... if the Trump-Hegseth threats have little purpose as law enforcement, they signify great purpose as political strategy. Since Trump’s reelection, close observers of his presidency have feared a specific sequence of events that could play out ahead of midterm voting in 2026:

    Step 1: Use federal powers in ways to provoke some kind of made-for-TV disturbance—flames, smoke, loud noises, waving of foreign flags.

    Step 2: Invoke the disturbance to declare a state of emergency and deploy federal troops.

    Step 3: Seize control of local operations of government—policing in June 2025; voting in November 2026.

    ...

    If Trump can incite disturbances in blue states before the midterm elections, he can assert emergency powers to impose federal control over the voting process, which is to say his control. Or he might suspend voting until, in his opinion, order has been restored. Either way, blue-state seats could be rendered vacant for some time.

    ...

    Since Trump’s return to the presidency in January, many political observers have puzzled over a seeming paradox. On the one hand, Trump keeps doing corrupt and illegal things. If and when his party loses its majorities in Congress—and thus the ability to protect Trump from investigation and accountability—he will likely face severe legal danger. On the other hand, Trump is doing extreme and unpopular things that seem certain to doom his party’s majorities in the 2026 elections. Doesn’t Trump know that the midterms are coming? Why isn’t he more worried?

    This weekend’s events suggest an answer. Trump knows full well that the midterms are coming. He is worried. But he might already be testing ways to protect himself that could end in subverting those elections’ integrity. So far, the results must be gratifying to him—and deeply ominous to anyone who hopes to preserve free and fair elections in the United States under this corrupt, authoritarian, and lawless presidency.

    I hope this is needless worry, but this is what I'm worried about.

    I think he's definitely trying to pick fights with blue states. Whether it is, as Frum suggests, a long-game strategy to take control of elections in those states, OR just to win the midterms more-or-less legitimately by making himself look like the champion of law-and-order, I couldn't say.
  • Whatever Trump's plans or motives may be, tyrants using troops against their own people rarely (if ever) ends well, whether for the country, or for the tyrant.
  • mousethiefmousethief Shipmate
    If this escalates as it looks to, we will get a John Brown, and people will rally around them. Look for unrest -- not just peaceful protests but actual unrest -- to grow.
  • A comment by Robert Reich in today's UK Guardian:

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/09/trump-police-state-robert-reich

    I don't know much about Mr Reich, but he often contributes to the Guardian, and I take it that he knows whereof he speaks.
  • Gramps49Gramps49 Shipmate
    I believe Robert Reich was the Secretary of Labor under the Bill Clinton administration. He is well known for his schematics he uses in his talks. Quite liberal, but realistic.
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