When was Insurrection Act activated

20th Century and Most Recent

• Detroit Race Riot (1943): President Franklin D. Roosevelt deployed military forces to suppress a race riot.
• Civil Rights Movement (1950s and 1960s): Presidents used the Act to enforce federal court orders on desegregation, often against the wishes of Southern state governors.
  • Little Rock Nine (1957): President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne Division to escort and protect nine Black students integrating Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.
  • University of Mississippi Integration (1962): President John F. Kennedy deployed federal troops to quell a riot and enforce the enrollment of James Meredith, the university's first Black student.
  • Selma to Montgomery Marches (1965): President Lyndon B. Johnson federalized the Alabama National Guard to protect civil rights marchers from state trooper violence.
• Unrest after MLK Assassination (1968): President Johnson invoked the Act to deploy troops to Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Baltimore in response to widespread rioting.
• St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (1989): President George H.W. Bush deployed troops to address widespread looting and lawlessness after Hurricane Hugo.
• Los Angeles Riots (1992): The most recent activation occurred when President George H.W. Bush sent federal troops and federalized the California National Guard to restore order following the acquittal of police officers in the beating of Rodney King.