On March 20, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson stood on the porch of his Texas ranch, reading aloud the message he’d just sent Alabama Governor George Wallace—a segregationist who refused to protect Black Americans marching for the right to vote.
“I am calling into federal service selected units of the Alabama National Guard… to help you meet your state responsibilities.”
The Selma to Montgomery march was days away, and Wallace had made it clear he wouldn’t lift a finger to defend nonviolent protesters. So Johnson did it himself—invoking the Insurrection Act, an 18th-century law that allows a president to deploy the military or National Guard domestically, with or without state approval.
This moment—federal troops protecting Black civil rights marchers from white supremacist violence—was one of the most historic deployments of the Guard in American history.
Now, six decades later, we’re seeing something very different.
Trump’s National Guard Deployment: A Mirror Image in Reverse
When President Donald Trump ordered the National Guard into Los Angeles in June 2025—without the consent of California Governor Gavin Newsom or L.A. Mayor Karen Bass—it wasn’t to protect civil rights protesters. It was to stop them.
At the heart of the protests: Trump’s mass deportation campaign, which had already led to over 40 people being arrested by federal agents in L.A. alone. When activists surrounded a federal detention center to demand their release, Trump sent in 1,000 National Guard troops to “address the lawlessness.”
Newsom called the move a “complete overreaction.” Civil rights organizations said it was “purposely inflammatory.” But the order held. Troops arrived, protesters were arrested, and tensions rose in a city that has seen this play out before—over and over again.
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When Presidents Send in Troops: A Brief, Violent History
Deploying the National Guard without a governor’s consent is rare. But not unprecedented. Here are some of the most significant moments:
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1957 – Little Rock, Arkansas: President Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce the integration of Central High School after Governor Orval Faubus tried to block it.
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1962 – University of Mississippi: JFK federalized the Mississippi National Guard to protect James Meredith, the first Black student admitted to Ole Miss.
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1963 – University of Alabama: JFK again intervened to stop Governor Wallace from blocking integration.
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1965 – Selma to Montgomery March: LBJ deployed troops to protect Black marchers from state-sanctioned violence.
In all these cases, presidents used the National Guard to enforce civil rights against white supremacist state governments.
By contrast, Trump’s use of the Guard follows a very different pattern—a president sending troops to suppress protests, not protect them.
From Watts to George Floyd: When the Guard Comes to L.A.
Los Angeles has its own brutal history with National Guard deployments:
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1965 – Watts Rebellion: Nearly 14,000 Guard troops were deployed after six days of protests against police brutality. Over 30 people were killed, most by law enforcement or troops.
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1992 – Rodney King Uprising: After the acquittal of four LAPD officers who brutally beat Rodney King, President George H.W. Bush invoked the Insurrection Act. Sixty-three people were killed.
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2020 – George Floyd Protests: Governor Newsom deployed 8,000 National Guard troops during the nationwide uprising for racial justice.
Yale historian Elizabeth Hinton, who studies these uprisings, said the violence often starts when people are ignored—not when they’re heard. And in 2025, she warns, there is “no imminent threat that would require the mass deployment of militarized troops.”
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What Happens When the Troops Leave
In South Central L.A., people remember what happens after the soldiers go home.
Syreeta Danley, a teacher who lived through the 1992 uprisings, said:
“Some people were more afraid of the police than the Guard—because once the troops left, the cops had the green light to continue brutalizing people.”
Others, like Breeze McDonald, point to long-term trauma. Her aunt was hosed by the Guard in the ‘65 Watts rebellion. Decades later, the scars are still there—on bodies, buildings, and memory.
“A lot of the anger happened because our voices weren’t being heard. Because instead of stopping to listen, you decided to employ the National Guard,” she said.
When Federal Power Is Abused, Everyone Pays
Civil rights groups say the Trump deployment feels less like security—and more like escalation. In a joint statement, the NAACP, Legal Defense Fund, and others warned that “the people’s right to peacefully exercise their collective power” is under threat.
They have reason to worry.
Trump’s framing of immigration protests as “lawlessness” echoes his language in 2020, when federal agents kidnapped protesters off the streets of Portland. It mirrors his attacks on Black Lives Matter, his threats to use the Insurrection Act, and his deep admiration for the spectacle of federal force.
As Amara Enyia of the Movement for Black Lives put it:
“This is a frightening proposition. One that does not bode well for the rights of people in this country.”
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This Isn’t Selma. And Trump Isn’t Johnson.
The president once sent the National Guard to protect Black Americans from violent sheriffs, state troopers, and racist governors.
Now, another president is using those same troops to suppress movements demanding freedom for immigrants, Black Americans, and people living under state violence.
The uniforms may look the same. The law might still be the Insurrection Act. But the mission? It’s been flipped.
