More than three decades before President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles in response to protests over immigration raids, another President called up the military to quell civil unrest in the same city. But the circumstances are very different this time around.
In 1992, President George H.W. Bush mobilized the National Guard to Los Angeles due to riots that broke out following the acquittal of white police officers who were charged with assaulting Rodney King, an unarmed Black man.
The National Guard’s deployment came at the request of California’s then-Gov. Pete Wilson and Mayor Tom Bradley, as multiple days of rioting caused extensive damage in the city and left dozens dead.
Compared to the destruction and violence in 1992, the damage resulting from the demonstrations thus far against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been minor. And President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles against the wishes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, marking the first time a President has done so without the governor’s consent in six decades.
Here’s what to know about the National Guard’s mobilization in 1992—and how it differs from the current situation.
Why was the National Guard deployed to Los Angeles in 1992?
The city of Los Angeles descended into widespread unrest on April 29, 1992, after a jury acquitted four police officers who were videotaped beating Rodney King.
Over the course of several days, more than 60 people died, while another 2,000 were injured. More than 1,000 buildings were defaced, leading to damages that amounted to some $1 billion.
Bush called up the National Guard under the Insurrection Act, which authorizes the President to deploy the typically state-controlled military force in certain situations involving invasions or insurrections, on the third day of the riots
“What followed Wednesday’s jury verdict in the Rodney King case was a tragic series of events for the city of Los Angeles: Nearly 4,000 fires, staggering property damage, hundreds of injuries, and the senseless deaths of over 30 people,” Bush said in an address at the time. He went on to announce the commitment of thousands of additional troops to the city “to help restore order” at the behest of the governor and mayor, and the federalization of the National Guard.
Why is Trump’s mobilization of the National Guard different?
Demonstrations began in Los Angeles on Friday in response to immigration raids targeting undocumented workers. The Los Angeles Police Department on Saturday referred to the protests as “peaceful,” though some escalated as rocks and Molotov cocktails were thrown and cars were set on fire.
The city’s mayor, Karen Bass, downplayed the extent of the demonstrations in an interview with CNN. “This is not citywide civil unrest taking place in Los Angeles. A few streets downtown – it looks horrible,” she said, adding that people who committed acts of vandalism would be arrested and prosecuted.
But on Saturday, Trump deployed 2,000 members of the National Guard to the city. Rather than the Insurrection Act, which Bush used, he invoked Section 12406 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code.
That provision allows the President to call in the National Guard in situations where authorities can’t execute the country’s laws with “regular forces,” or if an invasion or rebellion is underway or there is the threat of one.
It also specifies that “orders for these purposes shall be issued through the governors of the States or, in the case of the District of Columbia, through the commanding general of the National Guard of the District of Columbia.”
Far from asking for the National Guard to be mobilized, Newsom requested that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “immediately rescind” the federal order and “return the National Guard to its rightful control by the State of California, to be deployed as appropriate when necessary.”
The governor sued Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday, claiming that the act surpassed the federal government’s authority and violated the Tenth Amendment. “Let me be clear: There is no invasion. There is no rebellion. The President is trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a Monday statement.
Bass, too, has vocally opposed the National Guard’s deployment, calling it a “chaotic escalation.”
“The fear people are feeling in our city right now is very real – it’s felt in our communities and within our families and it puts our neighborhoods at risk. This is the last thing that our city needs,” the mayor said in a Sunday post on X.
Trump further escalated the mounting tensions over the mobilization on Monday by suggesting that Newsom should be arrested over his handling of the demonstrations in Los Angeles.
U.S. Northern Command announced later in the afternoon that 700 Marines have also been deployed to the city.
Newsom criticized that move as well in a post on X, calling Trump “dictatorial.”
“U.S. Marines have served honorably across multiple wars in defense of democracy,” he wrote. “They are heroes. They shouldn’t be deployed on American soil facing their own countrymen to fulfill the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial President. This is un-American.”
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