What is America’s National Guard, and why does Donald Trump want them to break up the George Floyd protests

US President Donald Trump has vowed to use “heavily armed soldiers” to “dominate the streets” amid ongoing protests across America.

With demonstrations set to continue long after curfew, Mr Trump delivered an extraordinary national address saying he would deploy active-duty US troops if states did not fully mobilise all their National Guardsmen.

“If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them,” Mr Trump said.

There are currently 17,000 National Guard troops deployed in 23 US states in response to the protests.

But the Guard has roughly 450,000 members nationwide.

What exactly is the National Guard?

The National Guard is a special part of the US military that, according to the group’s website, “serves both community and country”.

It’s made up of mostly civilians who train one weekend each month, with a more intensive two-week training period each year.

They are mostly under the control of state governors, but they can also be called upon to bolster US military units overseas, and the President can even place them under his command.

How are they different from police and reserve troops?

Unlike the US military, the National Guard is usually called in to help by governors during natural disasters like floods or hurricanes.

For example, before a hurricane, the National Guard will move supplies, sandbag flood-prone areas, help evacuate locals and control traffic.

But their history of providing support to local police during civil unrest has been sometimes controversial.

Their track record during protests “has been abysmal”, according to Tom Nolan, an associate professor in criminal justice at Boston University.

“They [the National Guard] have no experience and no training in going into situations in urban areas and confronting large numbers at protests,” he said.

In some cases, states have urged local residents not to direct their anger at the National Guard.

“I’d like everyone to recognise the fact that the National Guard just a week ago was administering COVID-19 tests to help people,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said.

“The presence you see on the street, don’t react to them the way you might react to the Minneapolis Police Department. It’s not the same group.”

Can Trump call up the US military?

Mr Trump says if governors don’t make full use of their National Guard, he will deploy active-duty troops to their states.

But it’s not clear yet whether he can legally do that.

A law known as the Posse Comitatus Act bans federal troops from being involved in domestic law enforcement.

Today, however, Mr Trump said he did have the authority under the Insurrection Act of 1807.

The law basically gives a president the power to send troops to a state “to suppress an insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination or conspiracy”.

But this is where things get tricky because some have argued that a governor must ask the Federal Government to have forces brought in.

Pritzker on what he’ll do if Trump mobilizes the military in Illinois: “Well, it’s illegal. He can’t do it. We won’t request military assistance here in the state of Illinois. I can’t imagine why any governor is going to do that. This is, it’s ridiculous.”3,4031:40 AM – Jun 2, 2020Twitter Ads info and privacy1,110 people are talking about this

Governor of Illinois JB Pritzker has already told MSNBC: “We will not be doing that, and I can’t imagine any state will do that.”

“These impediments stand in the way, so a president has to move with great care when he says he’s going to invoke the use of military force on US soil.”

However, the law is vague enough that past presidents have invoked it despite objections from state governors.

“There are extreme limitations of the use of US military forces inside the borders of the US,” US political expert and professor at the University of Oklahoma Keith Gaddie says.

For example, Dwight Eisenhower invoked the Insurrection Act in 1957 so he could force the state of Alabama to integrate black and white students in schools.

So what are the National Guard currently doing?

While the National Guard are armed and equipped in camouflage uniforms, they are only supposed to support local law enforcement.

So when protests began in Minneapolis after George Floyd’s death, State Governor Tim Walz activated 500 Minnesota National Guardsmen to help police.

So far, some of their missions have included guarding the State Capitol Building and escorting firefighters as they put out blazes

Troops were in Minneapolis to “protect life, preserve property and ensure people’s right to peacefully demonstrate”, according to Minnesota’s National Guard adjutant general.

Major General Jon Jensen said his troops did not have the right to “arrest and detain civilians”, but they carry weapons because “soldiers retain the right to self defence”.