By Brian VanDeMark
Responding to street protests in Los Angeles against federal immigration enforcement raids, President Donald Trump ordered 2,000 soldiers from the California National Guard into the city on June 7, 2025, to protect agents carrying out the raids. Trump also authorized the Pentagon to dispatch regular U.S. troops “as necessary” to support the California National Guard.
The president’s orders did not specify rules of engagement about when and how force could be used. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who did not request the National Guard and asserted it was not needed, criticized the president’s decision as “inflammatory” and warned it “will only escalate tensions.”
I am a historian who has written several books about the Vietnam War, one of the most divisive episodes in our nation’s past. My recent book, “Kent State: An American Tragedy,” examines a historic clash on May 4, 1970, between anti-war protesters and National Guard troops at Kent State University in Ohio.
The confrontation escalated into violence: troops opened fire on the demonstrators, killing four students and wounding nine others, including one who was paralyzed for life.
In my view, dispatching California National Guard troops against civilian protesters in Los Angeles chillingly echoes decisions and actions that led to the tragic Kent State shooting. Some active-duty units, as well as National Guard troops, are better prepared today than in 1970 to respond to riots and violent protests – but the vast majority of their training and their primary mission remains to fight, to kill, and to win wars.
Federalizing the Guard
The National Guard is a force of state militias under the command of governors. It can be federalized by the president during times of national emergency, or for deployment on combat missions overseas. Guardsmen train for one weekend per month and two weeks every summer.
Typically, the Guard has been deployed to deal with natural disasters and support local police responses to urban unrest. Examples include riots in Detroit in 1967, Washington DC in 1968, Los Angeles in 1965 and 1992, and Minneapolis and other cities in 2020 after the death of George Floyd.
Presidents rarely deploy National Guard troops without state governors’ consent. The main modern exceptions occurred in the 1950s and 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement, when Southern governors defied federal court orders to desegregate schools in Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama. In each case, the federal government sent troops to protect Black students from crowds of white protesters.
The 1807 Insurrection Act grants presidents authority to use active-duty troops or National Guard forces to restore order within the United States. President Trump did not invoke the Insurrection Act. Instead, he relied on Section 12406 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code, a narrower federal statute that allows the president to mobilize the National Guard in situations including “rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”
Trump did not limit his order to Los Angeles. He authorized armed forces to protect immigration enforcement operations at any “locations where protests against these functions are occurring or are likely to occur.”
Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images
The standoff at Kent State
The war in Vietnam had grown increasingly unpopular by early 1970, but protests intensified on April 30 when President Richard Nixon authorized expanding the conflict into Cambodia. At Kent State, after a noontime anti-war rally on campus on May 1, alcohol-fueled students harassed passing motorists in town and smashed storefront windows that night. On May 2, anti-war protesters set fire to the building where military officers trained Kent State students enrolled in the armed forces’ Reserve Officer Training Corps program.
In response, Republican Governor Jim Rhodes dispatched National Guard troops, against the advice of university and many local officials, who understood the mood in the town of Kent and on campus far better than Rhodes did. County prosecutor Ron Kane had vehemently warned Rhodes that deploying the National Guard could spark conflict and lead to fatalities.
Nonetheless, Rhodes – who was trailing in an impending Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat – struck the pose of a take-charge leader who wasn’t going to be pushed around by a long-haired rabble. “We’re going to put a stop to this!” he shouted, pounding the table at a press conference in Kent on May 3.
Hundreds of National Guard troops were deployed across town and on campus. University officials announced that further rallies were banned. Nonetheless, on May 4, some 2,000 to 3,000 students gathered on the campus Commons for another anti-war rally. They were met by 96 National Guardsmen, led by eight officers.
There was confrontation in the air as student anger over Nixon’s expansion of the war blended with resentment over the Guard’s presence. Protesters chanted antiwar slogans, shouted epithets at the Guardsmen and made obscene gestures.
‘Fire in the air!’
The Guardsmen sent to Kent State had no training in de-escalating tension or minimizing the use of force. Nonetheless, their commanding officer that day, Ohio Army National Guard Assistant Adjutant General Robert Canterbury, decided to use them to break up what the Department of Justice later deemed a legal assembly.
In my view, it was a reckless judgment that inflamed an already volatile situation. Students started showering the greatly outnumbered Guardsmen with rocks and other objects. In violation of Ohio Army National Guard regulations, Canterbury neglected to warn the students that he had ordered Guardsmens’ rifles loaded with live ammunition.
As tension mounted, Canterbury failed to adequately supervise his increasingly fearful troops – a cardinal responsibility of the commanding officer on the scene. This fundamental failure of leadership increased confusion and resulted in a breakdown of fire control discipline – officers’ responsibility to maintain tight control over their troops’ discharge of weapons.
When protesters neared the Guardsmen, platoon sergeant Mathew McManus shouted “Fire in the air!” in a desperate attempt to prevent bloodshed. McManus intended for troops to shoot above the students’ heads to warn them off. But some Guardsmen, wearing gas masks that made it hard to hear amid the noise and confusion, only heard or reacted to the first word of McManus’ order, and fired at the students.
The troops had not been trained to fire warning shots, which was contrary to National Guard regulations. And McManus had no authority to issue an order to fire if officers were nearby, as they were.
Many National Guardsmen who were at Kent State on May 4 later questioned why they had been deployed there. “Loaded rifles and fixed bayonets are pretty harsh solutions for students exercising free speech on an American campus,” one of them told an oral history interviewer. Another plaintively asked me in a 2023 interview, “Why would you put soldiers trained to kill on a university campus to serve a police function?”
A fighting force
National Guard equipment and training have improved significantly in the decades since Kent State. But Guardsmen are still military troops who are fundamentally trained to fight, not to control crowds.
In 2020, then-National Guard Bureau Chief General Joseph Lengyel told reporters that “the civil unrest mission is one of the most difficult and dangerous missions … in our domestic portfolio.”
In my view, the tragedy of Kent State shows how critical it is for authorities to be thoughtful in responding to protests, and extremely cautious in deploying military troops to deal with them. The application of force is inherently unpredictable, often uncontrollable, and can lead to fatal mistakes and lasting human suffering. And while protests sometimes break rules, they may not be disruptive or harmful enough to merit responding with force.
Aggressive displays of force, in fact, can heighten tensions and worsen situations. Conversely, research shows that if protesters perceive authorities are acting with restraint and treating them with respect, they are more likely to remain nonviolent. The shooting at Kent State demonstrated that using military force in these situations is an option fraught with grave risks.
Brian VanDeMark is Professor of History at the United States Naval Academy. This is an updated version of an article originally published here on Oct. 26, 2024. The comments from that original publication have been preserved.
Sinan Wiese says
“Four Dead in Ohio” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Will we have version 2.0? If Trump has Generals like Hitler did, which Trump says he wishes he had, they would do anything to please their Feurer.
Al says
Another liberal trying to distort everything. He said deploy troops to fight cartel takeovers like the one in Colorado. The other part wasn’t about peaceful protest it was about destructive rioting. I guess as long as it’s not your house riots are peaceful. I hope they come to your neighborhood soon.
JimboXYZ says
Most college students are adults, granted some are 1st year out of HS as minors => adults, but still 18+ year old adults with voting rights at the very least. Kent State was a different war, it was a Vietnam War protest. What went on under Biden-Harris is a Palestinian-Isreali Gaza protest. The 2 being wars are very different protests really. Kent State was about US Troops as skin in the game. Trump professes to be able to end the war, even get a meaningful cease fire in 24-48 hours. 10 months of Biden Harris in 2024 and we see how that’s going for not happening. Trump even has said he could get something more meaningful before being sworn in for both the Ukraine & Gaza Wars, should he win the election. Would National Guard have prevented J6 ? If one thinks that Trump should’ve deployed National Guard that Pelosi is on video taking accountability & responsibility for not securing for J6 ? Then having adequate crowd control for campus protests doesn’t seem like Kent State if there is rubber bullets & not live ammo on campuses ? This isn’t an Alec Baldwin “Rust” movie set ? End of the day, for the Gaza War to end, someone has to start ending what continues to be skirmishes of protests everywhere else but where the war actually is being fought.
Just me, I think Trump’s plan is to cut off Iran again, something Biden-Harris hasn’t & won’t do. When Biden sends billions in funds to Iran on 9/11 2023 anniversary date, that’s a play out of Obama-Biden flying cash to Iran. That does nothing to punish Iran’s hand in funding Hamas. End of the day, Obama-Biden-Harris has done nothing but reward Iran & Hamas and the results are obvious, Israel is attacked. Part of what kept a relative peace in the Gaza was what Biden reversed from Trump’s 4 years for executive orders. We are where we are and it’s the Democrats policies that got us here, certainly not Trump. Biden made sure of that 24-48 hours of executive orders rescinded to erase what Trump had accomplished. How anyone can vote for Biden-Harris-Walz, the blood of the Gaza is their hand in it for funding Iran. And I wouldn’t doubt as we watch Obama stump for Harris 10 days before election day, his hands are involved in some capacity ? I have a gut feeling that we will learn Obama is the one counseling both Biden & Harris the last 4 years as a part of the united Democrat party, leadership by committee ? It’s strange/weird that Harris calls out Trump for placating & cozying up to the Axis of Evil, yet that’s exactly what Obama-Biden-Harris-Walz has done.
I guess what Trump is doing is starting small with US University protests, but someone has to try something, because what Biden-Harris-Walz has done, hasn’t & won’t work towards ending any war. Imagine if Trump-Vance does what Biden-Harris couldn’t get done ?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-administration-acknowledges-1-7-billion-transfer-to-iran-was-all-cash/
Justsayin says
I noticed the article did not say anything about the January 6th riot where a capital police officer shot and killed a unarmed woman. The same officer was disciplined just prior to that for leaving his service weapon on the toilet when he left the bathroom. Then to top it off, he was interviewed by NBC News as some kind of hero.
Deport republicons says
Scary when you have people like little ron banning protests and protesting. Also criminalizing it along with poverty. The modern republicans are true fascists that want to quell any opposing views; so much for freedum.
Pogo says
@3 of the first 4 commenters prefer
…to live in a military dictatorship.
Time will tell if they wanted what they got — if they get it.
I smell blood and an era of prominent madmen.
— W.H. Auden
https://www.google.com/search?q=W.H.+Auden
Jim says
So you’re saying that to make a start towards ending the war in Gaza deploying troops on college campuses is a start?
I would hope that all Americans would want troop deployment anywhere in the USA to be a last resort. You, however, think deploying troops on a college campus will help end a war in the Middle East.
Thank God you have as little authority as you do intellect.
If you had any common sense you’d be ashamed.
Jim says
Did you notice that the unarmed woman shot and killed was warned multiple times that lethal force would be used if anyone tried to enter the chambers? Did you notice that she was trying to enter through a barricaded area?
That officer acted appropriately in his duty.
Hey fun fact for you to check out: After the “love feast” at the capital that day, Lindsey Graham said more rioters should have been shot.
Jim says
Here’s how it will play out if Trump is elected: First we’ll see massive changes in the military leadership in the JOC and Pentagon. Trump will install generals loyal to him. Then if/when any citizens protest against his policies the military will be deployed and there will be bloodshed. Afterward Trump’s people will say the protesters started it,were armed and got what they deserved. All the Trumpers will cheer and the end of this democracy will begin.
The saddest part of this scenario is how many Americans are cheering for it.
JimboXYZ says
Exactly, Martha’s Vineyard won’t ever have that level of takeover or even protests. It took them all of 24-48 hours to deport a busload of 50 immigrants delivered by bus for a better life. There was no plan of ever seamlessly integrating the border crisis in Martha’s Vineyard. I doubt any of the immigrants have moved in next door to Joe Biden or Kamala Harris in their residential(s), never will be Makes you wonder where the Martha’s Vineyard immigrant relocation program sent those dreamers.
jackson says
From the standpoint of reality and truth, it is utterly baffling, WHY so many people are ardent worshipers of the most uniquely odious and repugnant man to EVER infest and pollute American political culture. But here’s the key to his “appeal” to these people:
They don’t worship Trump in spite of his grotesque character flaws; They worship him BECAUSE of his grotesque degeneracy. At the core of it all is Trump’s malignant bigotry. The people in the MAGA cult are hard-wired bigots, always have been and always will be. And Trump, by his own example, has “legitimized” their bigotry.
These people absolutely can’t stand the FACT that American society inevitably continues to evolve and diversify. They seethe with anger over the fact that we are a multi-racial and multi-ethnic society. And they are absolutely livid about the fact that they have to share this planet and this country with those “other” people. It fills these people with rage that that other people who don’t look, think, and act exactly as they do, ALSO have legal and civil rights. They feel that THEY, and ONLY THEY are entitled to the spoils of full citizenship, and everyone else is a sub-human class who basically have no right to even exist.
This is why Trump is so popular with the people in his cult. Trump represents their beliefs EXACTLY. You can’t shame them into showing some decency or inclusiveness. For them, the hatred and the cruelty are the ENTIRE point!
Deborah Coffey says
What did he do about the destructive, murderous rioting at the Capitol on January 6th? Nothing, Nada, Zip…because they were his Nazis do his bidding. You guys need to get your stories straight. And, he DID NOT say deploy troops to fight only cartels but to destroy the enemies within. I watched him say it! That would be me and tens of millions like me. We know a Hitler clone when we see one.
Deborah Coffey says
So many lies (I counted 9) in your comment, no one even knows where to begin. Do you EVER get FACTS? Ever? It’s so easy to Google and fact-check. But, you blindly believe every lying word Donald Trump utters. You do know that it’s a fact that Donald Trump caused the greatest recession since The Great Depression in the Spring of 2020. Go ahead…fact check it.
Deborah Coffey says
That dead woman was breaking and entering. As I watched, I was wondering why the Capitol police didn’t open fire on all of the insurrectionists. Didn’t you watch them attack and injure over 140 police?
MyMaster says
If Trump has the massive deportation that he is threatening he will need a large percentage of the military in order to accomplish it. He won’t be able to effect such a deportation unless he wants severe economic consequences. Not only will it cost Billions to do but it will also create a labor shortage; something he surely hasn’t thought of. Immigrants over the last three years have an increased percentage of the workforce than native born Americans.
Pogo says
@jackson
Agree 100%
But, I believe a large part of the people behaving like troglodytes, are having a “Samson Moment” (see Book of Judges, Old Testament) as a backlash against political correctness, e.g., inventions, like microaggression, and the like. They’re beyond fed up with the pettifogging of too sensitive to live Ivey Tower graduate students, et. al., and their cancel culture police.
The pendulum swings, we’re told — so does the headsman’s axe…
Sherry says
Excellent comment Jackson! Here is just a tiny example. . . this from the “credible news agency” Associated Press: With just over a week before Election Day, speakers labeled Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage,” called Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris “the devil,” and said the woman vying to become the first woman and Black woman president had begun her career as a prostitute.
Sherry says
maga humor:
Latinos “love making babies. There’s no pulling out. They come inside, just like they do to our country,” Hinchcliffe said to laughter inside the arena. He added: “There’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”
“Think” about this BEFORE you vote!
Laurel says
I stopped reading Jimboxyz’s stuff a while ago.
Laurel says
“Tin soldiers and Nixon coming
We’re finally on our own
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in Ohio
Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?”
— Neil Young
I remember this time very well, I was 18 years old, the same age as most of those kids protesting on campus. It was a terrible blemish on our country, and it effected us very strongly. Americans were shocked and horrified at the possibility such a deliberate disaster could happen here. We hadn’t seen anything close since the assault on African Americans trying to get civil rights.
What Trump is proposing is civil war. He would be asking military soldiers to turn on their own neighbors, family and friends! What a horrible thing to suggest! The man has no empathy whatsoever. Nobody’s home. When he pushed his way through a crowd for a photo op with a bible, in front of a church, he asked if the protesters could be shot in the legs. I’m not so sure the military would go along with it, and question the legality, authoritarian or not. But the idea is disgusting. Perhaps he would start his own Brown Shirts.
As it is now, those who Trump disagrees with, or he doesn’t like, they have been threatened by strangers. Some have been attacked. Some lives have been ruined. Many family members have been threatened. They have received death threats for simply stating what they believe. That is completely unacceptable.
So, if you vote for Trump/Vance, and blood is in the streets, it’s on you. Wear it.
feddy says
Insert any George Floyd protest rioters and take out insurrectionists.
Kennan says
Listen man. I don’t like the way Biden Harris have handled the situation in Gaza at all, But don’t think for a minute that Trump wouldn’t have just nuked the entire Middle East without batting an eyelash. He would’ve performed even more fellatio on Benjamin Netanyahu than Biden. Let me remind you Vietnam was a war. Yes it was, under false pretenses and a lot of pushback by students. Students today are protesting a full blown genocide. Ethnic cleansing in real time. A holocaust for the 21st century with a 21st century new cycle. You can’t escape it.
Please don’t say for a moment that Trump would’ve come up with a cease-fire in 24 to 48 hours. You know that’s bullshit. He would’ve done the same thing that Biden was doing, Which would’ve been whatever Netanyahu wanted him to do. The only difference is that it would’ve probably been more depraved than what we’re doing now if you can even imagine that.
Sorry, man, but I take this real personal. Get your head straight.
Kennan says
Thank you, Sherry!!!
Laurel says
feddy: No, I don’t think so. George Floyd was murdered right in front of a crowd of people, over a $20 bill he could have gotten anywhere. That should upset anyone. That’s a whole different thing from a President who falsely claimed to win the election, told people to go to support him as “it will be wild” and told the crowd to march to the Capital and “fight like hell or you won’t have a country.”
These two events have nothing in common, other than crimes were committed. One of murder, and one insighting a riot to try to overthrow the government.
William Moya says
Historians, particularly the French would tell you that you can only start writing in historic term after 100 years have passed, but I’m not a historian so here it goes. Vietnam was the bridge too far for the U.S. empire, it change America mostly culturally, and aspect that is underrated, it’s still a major force throughout the world. Our politics is in shambles, “we’re the good guys” is becoming “we’re the criminally insane”. Our “proxy” empire has lost its more important feature, America, an idea that remains a dream.
Skibum says
Pierre, thank you for reposting this article, as it is extremely relevant to what is currently happening in Los Angeles after the president took it upon himself, without consultation with local and state officials, and without the CA governor even requesting that the CA National Guard send troops into L.A. to help local law enforcement with the immigration protests. And, predictably, all hell broke loose as soon as military troops descended upon downtown L.A., making it much more difficult for law enforcement personnel who were already there to quell the increasing numbers of people joining in and becoming even more upset and yes, violent, after the president once again incited what he damn well knew would happen, or maybe I should say what he damn well HOPED would happen so he could go on national TV and condemn that “blue state”, that “Dem run, woke city”, those “horrible communist city and state leaders” who cannot stop the out of control violence”. But he disavows any responsibility or accountability for what he has caused once again, just like he did on Jan. 6 when the people he sent to the U.S. Capitol predictably became violent and stormed the capitol building while he said in the WH watching it all unfold without doing anything to stop it for several hours. This is what he does, all to incite violence and divide Americans against one another. IT IS TIME TO IMPEACH HIM FOR THE 3RD TIME!!!
Mr. David says
Remember all that looting during Kent State?
And the Molotov cocktails?
Me neither.
DaleL says
Mr. Trump was the president January 6, 2021. When violent insurrectionists stormed the Capitol, he did NOTHING! Mr. Trump fomented political violence in an attempt to illegally remain in office in 2021. After his return to office, he pardoned those same violent rioters. Rioters who caused the deaths of several police officers.
I have no sympathy for violent protesters or rioters. The governor of California and the Mayor of Los Angeles have more than enough authority and police personnel to maintain law and order. Mr. Trump’s involvement is disgusting political theater. The news media should get off their collective behinds and report on the disparity of Mr. Trump’s inaction on January 6, 2021 with his rhetoric and actions today.
Pogo says
@How this shit happened
It is what it is.
https://www.google.com/search?q=trump+male+vote+2020+vs+2024
BillC says
Trump is just a sad little boy who never grew up and had no friends, so he doesn’t know how to play well with others. All he knows how to do is ruin everybody else’s good time, take his ball and go home, pout, and plan payback to those who rejected him. Everything he does is record setting, the greatest in history, big and beautiful- then everyone will (and must) l0ve him.
William Moya says
Yeah, speaking of insurrectionists, according to the fascists there are the Vikings type, good insurrectionists and the other humans, bad insurrectionists.
Me says
Trump caused January 6th and now LA chaos. He is a person out only for revenge on the Democratic party and states. He is abusing his power and wants nothing more but to cause a civil war.
Then he has to waste taxpayers money to feed his sick ego having parade on his birthday.
We are living now where we no longer have a Congress, they all ran to the hills and are failing our US Constitution.
William Moya says
Me says, I think at one point probably a few decades from now we will get a new civil war of sorts, the last nail in the coffin, but our US Constitution is not working now, it has became a straight jacket on our democracy and our President and Congress use it to shield themselves from all their misdeeds, alas, I don’t see a way out of this conundrum.
Brian says
[Disallowed. Do not use this site to advocate for violence or vigilantism. Please comply with our comment policy. Thank you.–FL]
Sherry says
June 14th. . . huge “peaceful” protests in over 1,800 places across the US, in each and every state! “NO KINGS”. . . be there to take our country back from a cowardly wannabe “dictator”! We will be!
Pierre Tristam says
That long?
Land of no turn signals says says
Burning and looting doesn’t come off as a “legal protest” to me.After all ICE is just there job rounding up the criminals.
oldtimer says
Peaceful protests do not include burning cars and looting stores…PERIOD!
Laurel says
William Moya: How about leaving my ancestors out of it. I, for one, am not an insurrectionist. Bigotry comes in all shapes and colors, doesn’t it?
Sherry says
@land. . . please educate yourself beyond Fox. . . only “criminals, really?. . . Fox is lying to you! I could paste literally hundreds more, but you can “easily” find them yourself, “IF” you would only care enough to :
***GAINESVILLE, Texas (TNND) — An 11-year-old girl from Texas tragically took her own life after bullies threatened to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on her family. Jocelynn Rojo Carranza was found unresponsive by her mother, Marbella Carranza, on Feb. 3 in her Gainesville home, according to KUVN.
***Dalton, Georgia — A 19-year-old Mexican-born Georgia woman who has lived in the U.S. since she was 4 continues to face deportation, despite the dismissal of the traffic charges that led Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest her.
***HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have in recent days deported the Cuban-born mother of a 1-year-old girl — separating them indefinitely — and three children ages 2, 4 and 7 who are U.S. citizens along with their Honduran-born mothers, their lawyers said Saturday.
Kennan says
I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again.
Trump and his minions hate America!
Trump and his minions despise Americans!
They use “BUMPER STICKER” wisdom to fool 1/3rd of the country and they hate all forms of government unless it’s THEIRS.
Trump motto: Divide and Conquer. Delegitimize so I may PRIVATIZE.
Parcel the country for me and my BILLIONAIRE friends, but do it now before the law and constitution catch up to me. That’s what he thinks of you and this country. Being a leader isn’t about having the country in your back pocket. It’s about cradling it like water in your palms, with care, humility and the understanding that if we ignore the past we decimate the future.