US President Donald Trump declared on October 6 that he could invoke the Insurrection Act, a 1807 law that allows the president to call in the US military for civilian law enforcement under certain conditions, if courts or local officials prevent him from deploying the National Guard.
Trump argued that the 19th-century law, last used during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, could be applied today. He described protests against ICE in cities such as Portland, Los Angeles, and Chicago as "acts of insurrection" that would justify invoking the act.
But according to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, the Trump administration has been firing gas pellets and tear gas canisters at peaceful protesters to “cause chaos, (and) create fear and confusion,” to give the pretext to invoke the act.The archaic law was actually drawn up in 1792 when the United States was a very different country to the one Trump presides over today.
The statute has been used by various White House incumbents on numerous occasions since, but critics argue that it is dangerously vague and in need of reform. So, what exactly is the Insurrection Act, and why and when is it invoked?
Click through the following gallery and learn more about this centuries-old law and how it can be used.