By Rita Cook
Correspondent
Texas Metro News
Credit: Library of Congress,
WASHINGTON D.C. – Americans are certainly getting a fast and furious schooling on the laws of the land in the United States.
It began around the time of COVID and both President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden seem to be the ones atop the hot seat past and present as laws are mentioned that have not been referred to in years.
This week’s lesson: The Insurrection Act.
A reporter asked Trump in October “What is the trigger for the Insurrection Act?”
The fact he is mentioning the act again this week, could mean we have found the trigger.
I do not need to go into all the unrest in Minnesota, particularly in Minneapolis, but it keeps getting worse and that is the current hot seat.
Last week the Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara spoke of the latest incident after the city’s Mayor Jacob Frey attempted to sugarcoat it.
O’Hara was referring to an incident where his officers were called to a residence in which an adult male was in a struggle with a federal agent. The federal agent shot the man who retreated inside his home but was later taken to hospital.
A federal agent’s car broke into and emails, addresses, phone numbers, and names of judges were stolen and posted on social media.
Needless to say, facial ID is swiftly taking care of that matter.
O’Hara said in the press conference referring to the incident “There is a crowd gathered in the area and we have called for mutual aid from the Minnesota State Patrol and Hennepin County Sheriff. The crowd is engaging in unlawful acts. They have thrown fireworks at police officers and at multiple times gas has been deployed. Police are attempting to disburse this unlawful assembly at this time. I urge anyone who is at the scene to leave immediately.”
With these remarks it leads most to believe the First Amendment right to peacefully assembly in public spaces like streets and parks has now gone over the line of peaceful.
But is the Insurrection Act needed just yet>
Trump’s reply to that question late last year “The Insurrection Act, which has been used by 48% of the presidents as of this moment, the Insurrection Act if you look I believe it was the elder Bush who used it 28 times. If I needed, I would use it. I don’t think there is any reason right now to use it.”
Trump got a few of the numbers wrong, in my research the Insurrection Act has been invoked 31 times by 15 presidents.
The first time being in 1808 by Thomas Jefferson and the most recent in 1992 by George H.W. Bush during the LA riots.
Other times in modern history include John F. Kennedy twice in 1963 and in 1965 once relating to the Gov. of Alabama forbidding black students from a school in Tuscaloosa, once when the Alabama National Guard forbade black students from all-white schools and in 2965 during the suppression of the Selma to Mongomery marches.
It was invoked by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967 during protests and riots in Detroit and in 1968 after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
In 1987 Ronald Reagan invoked it during a prison riot in Atlanta over deportation of Cuban detainees and in 1989 during looting in the Virgin Islands after a hurricane.
The Insurrection Act is a U.S. Federal Law and empowers the President of the United States to nationally deploy the U.S. military and federalize National Guard units of the individual states for the suppression of civil disorder, insurrection or armed rebellion. This would be used during a time the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it unrealistic to enforce the laws of the United States in a State, by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings.
If the act is invoked it would mean armed forces (now no longer just ICE agents) are allowed to carry out law enforcement functions like arrests and searches.
After invoking and before exercising the powers authorized under the act, there must also be a presidential proclamation where the President formally orders the dispersion of the people committing civil unrest or armed rebellion.
The Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told one news outlet via email “If Donald Trump does invoke the Insurrection Act, I’m prepared to challenge that action in court.”
Rita Cook is a world traveler and writer/editor who specializes in writing on travel, auto, crime and politics. A correspondent for Texas Metro News, she has published 11 books and has also produced low-budget films.
