This is what happens if the Insurrection Act is invoked and why Trump wants to deploy troops in Democrat-run cities

The United States of America is no longer creeping towards authoritarian rule, it is a runaway train with the driver pushing the limits of law to breaking point. President Donald Trump is taking America down a dark path that history has seen before, with increased militarisation across the country being laced with a dangerously aggressive rhetoric regarding those who disagree with him. And now, whispers of what is known as ‘the Insurrection Act’ are beginning to surface, something that would without doubt plunge the country into depths untold.

If the President were to invoke the Insurrection Act, the consequences would be both sweeping and historically charged. While the law grants extraordinary authority to one person, it is also dangerously vague. And in today’s uncertain world, its implications are deeply political, with proposals to send troops into cities run by Democratic officials high on his list of priorities.

What is the Insurrection Act?

The Brennan Center explains that the Insurrection Act is a dangerously out of date federal statute that allows a sitting president to mobilise U.S. military forces on domestic soil to restore order, enforce federal laws, or suppress rebellions.

Normally, the Posse Comitatus Act prohibits military involvement in civilian law enforcement; the Insurrection Act is the exception to that rule.

It contains several distinct provisions:

• Section 251: This is the simplest case. If a state’s legislature or its governor calls for help, the president may send troops to quell unrest.
• Section 252 and 253: Here, we may see the use of more aggressive tools. These allow deployment without state consent: if federal authorities judge that the situation has become so disorderly that standard law enforcement can’t cope, or if constitutional rights are being violated and the state won’t protect them.

Importantly, terms like “insurrection” and “domestic violence” are not clearly defined in the law itself, leaving it up to the president to interpret when the threshold has been met. Draw your own conclusions there.

Courts have historically declined to second-guess such calls, though they can review whether military forces have broken other laws or constitutional protections once deployed. Not that Trump pays any attention to law anyway.

Is the Insurrection Act the same as declaring martial law?

In a word, no, invoking the Insurrection Act is not the same as declaring martial law. Under the Act, troops generally reinforce, not replace, civilian authority; thankfully, the president has no constitutional power to suspend the rule of law altogether.

Why Trump is deploying troops across the United States

There are many theories as to why Trump is deploying army troops across the country, specifically to Democrat-run states. The most prominent at the time of writing is that Trump wants to edge closer to what he will eventually call a ‘civil war’ against the decentralised antifascist movement known as the ‘Antifa’. It must be remembered that while Trump is calling the movement a “terrorist organisation”, there is no armed section of the movement, nor is there even a general leader of the group: it is an unorganised movement of peaceful antiracist protesters, not an armed group of rebels.

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Elections are coming up in 2028 and it appeared that, in a meeting with Ukrainian leader Zelensky, Trump realised that elections could not be held in times of war. The president has made no secret of his desire to run for three terms - something that goes against the constitution - and as such a civil war would perhaps be the perfect excuse for him not to call elections when they come around.

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