The Insurrection Act of 1807 is the U.S. federal law that empowers the president of the United States to nationally deploy the U.S. military and to federalize the National Guard units of the individual states in specific circumstances, such as the suppression of civil disorder, of insurrection, and of armed rebellion ...

Under the authority of state governors, National Guard troops can be deployed to respond to emergencies, such as the COVID pandemic, hurricanes and other natural disasters. It can also be used to tackle social unrest when local police are overwhelmed.

The areas where the protests happened both Friday and Saturday were isolated to a part of downtown LA and to Paramount, a small city in south Los Angeles County where raids were happening. Paramount is a heavily Latino area where 82% of residents are Hispanic .