Overview

• In his June 10 Wall Street Journal essay, Cotton repeats his June 2020 call for an “overwhelming show of force” to end escalating anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles.
• President Trump invoked federal authority to deploy National Guard and Marine units after Gov. Gavin Newsom declined to mobilize the California Guard.
• LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell warned that uncoordinated federal deployments could complicate city police efforts even as officers struggle to contain the unrest.
• Cotton echoed his earlier New York Times op-ed and introduced legislation to stiffen penalties for rioters who attack law enforcement and deport noncitizens convicted of riot-related crimes.
• Legal challenges over the Insurrection Act and California’s state versus federal roles in quelling civil disturbances have intensified since the federalization order.