Trump's National Guard Deployment Sparks 2020 Comparisons Amidst LA Riots

President Donald Trump responded swiftly to recent unrest in Los Angeles County by mobilizing the National Guard. This action sparked comparisons to the summer of 2020, when widespread violence and destruction occurred during protests related to Black Lives Matter and Antifa.

Trump's decision to federalize 4,100 National Guard soldiers and deploy hundreds of Marines faced opposition from Governor Gavin Newsom, who subsequently filed a lawsuit against Trump. However, Trump's administration argued that the National Guard was necessary to prevent the riots from escalating to the scale seen nationwide following George Floyd's death in May 2020.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated that Trump's action aimed to prevent a situation similar to the one in Minnesota that year. She referenced the delay by Democratic Governor Tim Walz in calling upon the National Guard to address unrest in his state. Noem emphasized that the federalization of the National Guard would allow them to utilize their specialized skills to maintain order.

Noem further commented that the administration would not allow a repeat of the events of 2020, highlighting the perceived missteps of Governor Walz in Minnesota. She claimed that Walz sought assistance from Trump after allowing the city to experience prolonged unrest.

In Minnesota, Governor Walz activated the National Guard on May 28, after looting and arson had already begun in response to Floyd's death. Within hours of the announcement, rioters set fire to the Minneapolis Third Precinct police station. Although Walz eventually mobilized the entire Minnesota National Guard, Trump had threatened to federalize the soldiers on May 29 to ensure effective action.

By May 30, Minnesota's National Guard announced its full mobilization, marking its largest domestic deployment. During the 2020 riots, Trump was generally deferential to governors, some of whom struggled to balance law and order with their sympathy for those protesting police brutality.

The National Guard is a military force based in each state, with shared authority between governors and presidents. Governors typically oversee their state's National Guard units, but presidents can federalize them under certain circumstances.

In June 2020, Senator Tom Cotton urged the Trump administration to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would allow the president to federalize the National Guard. The proposal was met with controversy, and the newspaper that published the op-ed retracted it due to reader backlash.

By June 4, governors in 32 states and Washington, D.C., had activated over 32,000 National Guard soldiers in response to the widespread unrest. DHS Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar echoed Noem's remarks, stating that Trump acted quickly to prevent a recurrence of the violence and damage seen in 2020. Trump and Noem were determined to prevent violent radicals from disrupting law enforcement in Los Angeles.