Quote Originally Posted by aj3647 View Post
George Romney mobilized the National Guard and used them in a law enforcement capacity under State authority, which is legal.

Lyndon Johnson mobilized a smaller number of Army Airborne troops by invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807, which is the only exception to the Posse Comitatus Act that would allow the President to deploy federal troops domestically in such a capacity. The Insurrection Act of 1807 applies to instances of anti-government insurrection. Do you think what's happening in Minneapolis right now amounts to a rebellion and that the rioters are trying to overthrow the government? I don't think looting a Target quite meets that threshold, but if you are looking for a flimsy excuse to send troops into an American city to gun down Americans, then go right ahead and see how that works out. BTW, what happened to Lyndon Johnson's political future after that, was he re-elected as POTUS in 1968?

You know what, I've changed my mind. I hope Trump does send in the Army. The more he breaks it, the more he buys it. I'm sure the images of uniformed U.S. military shooting Americans in the streets of an American city will be the shining example of Making America Great Again and will make a great campaign ad.
From memory, of reading on the 1967 Airborne deployment;

by all accounts, the deployment of the "well trained Airborne units" calmed the situation rather than exacerbated it. It was the comparatively poorly trained N. Guard that had itchy trigger fingers.

So which scenario would you rather have? I would rather see the situation defused, just like the original incident that sparked this should have been.