The Insurrection Act means Trump may be able to get the military
The 1807 act has one small part, read literally, that may give the US president the right to send in the army to quell protests
At a hastily arranged Rose Garden press conference on Monday, US President Donald Trump announced his intention to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 to send federal troops into the states unless governors were able to “dominate” protesters using National Guard soldiers. Then, after the Secret Service fired teargas and rubber bullets at what appeared to be peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park, Trump walked a few metres across the park for a photo op in front of a boarded-up church opposite the White House.
Given Trump’s track record of announcing legally problematic measures and not implementing them, it could be that his plan to invoke the Insurrection Act is no more meaningful than was his walk in the park...
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