Editors Note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the MMAPressRoom.com or its affiliates.

“This is going to happen. It cannot be stopped. It’s not going to stop until you get in touch with your state legislators and get up in their backside. You got to start teaching your children. You need to get that five and six-year old and teach them their birth certificate,” explains Command Sgt. Major Dan Page in an August 22, 2014 Sheridan Lowrey YouTube video titled, “US President’s & Congress’s Treason EXPOSED by Retired Army Ranger Command Sgt Major Dan Page.” A 36-year veteran of the St. Louis County Police Department, Page has served in every conflict since Vietnam while achieving one of the highest enlisted ranks in the U.S. military.

“’Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government.’ Do you know what the definition of a nation is under international law? Anybody have any idea what that is? I’m glad you told me, because I’m going to tell ya. Number one is they have a sovereign flag,” explains Page as he speaks to a local chapter of Oath Keepers. “Does Missouri not have a flag? Okay, you have a second thing. A sovereign nation must be able to prosecute a country for treason. I know some of you know what this is, because I see you in here. I know who you are, okay? Treason. Missouri has a state law for treason,” continues Page as he displays a physical copy of the state law for everyone to see.

“How many other nations do you see doing this? Nobody. So, you have a national flag. Missouri has a flag. You must be under international law and have the ability to try a person for treason. If you go to Russia, only Russia can try you for treason. If you go to China, only China can try you for treason,” explains Page. “So why can’t all 50 states try you for treason if they’re not considered sovereign?”

A former Drill Instructor who attended the University of Heidelberg in Germany; Page lays much of the blame for today’s immigration problems at the feet of former President Barack Obama. Practically a modern day Nostradamus who all but predicted the COVID-19 pandemic; Page also foresaw the facilitation of illegal immigration as the catalyst for major political strife within the continental U.S. Looking into his crystal ball while highlighting Operation Garden Plot to his emphysema ridden audience as far back as 2014; we should probably be discussing Page’s Presidential Medal of Freedom instead of his many detractors.

“We learned that the armed men on rooftops were the good guys, mostly Korean shop owners protecting their life’s investment. The armed men on the streets were the hostiles,” explains author Chuck Devore in an April 28, 2012 Breitbart.com article titled, “LA Riots: Thin Veneer of Civilization.”

According to Devore, who served as a captain in the California National Guard in the spring of 1992 when his unit was activated to roll into Los Angeles, “Of the 53 people killed during the 1992 L.A. Riots – 19 more than died in the 1965 Watts Riots – two were Asian,” explains Devore. “And one of those deaths was due to a ‘friendly fire’ incident in which two groups of Korean shop owners mistook the other for looters.”

An article which leads off with the heading, “Garden Plot: a generic Operations Plan for military support related to domestic civil disturbances,” sum 30-years later Americans are experiencing a sense of déjà vu as the city of Los Angeles burns once again. “We begin today’s show in Los Angeles where President Trump has deployed the California National Guard in defiance of California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass,” explains host Amy Goodman in a June 9, 2025 ‘Democracy Now!’ YouTube video titled, “L.A. Under Siege: Trump Sends in National Guard as Protests Continue over Militarized ICE Raids.”

“This comes after protests erupted against ICE’s military style raids in and around L.A. The Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has also threatened to deploy 500 active duty Marines from Camp Pendleton,” explains Goodman. “White House advisor Stephen Miller labeled the ICE protests an insurrection. On Sunday, Trump warned this could be just the beginning of deploying troops on U.S. streets.

"‘We’re going to have troops everywhere. We’re not going to let this happen to our country,’" explains President Trump as ‘Democracy Now!’ rolls the tape for their viewership audience at home to see. “We’re not going to let our country be torn apart.”

“Earlier today, Trump wrote on social media, ‘Looking really bad in L.A., bring in the troops,’" explains Goodman as the report continues. “California Governor Gavin Newsom plans to sue the Trump administration today. He wrote, ‘Commandeering a state’s National Guard without consulting the governor of that state is illegal and immoral.’ This marks the first time since the 1960’s a president’s deployed the National Guard without a governor’s request.”

Information which suggests we’re not in Kansas anymore, as it turns out the devil is in the details when attempting to understand the exact nature of the military’s presence in Los Angeles. On the street, the public is only exposed to the obvious with little to no supplementary information to help fill in the blanks or find the missing pieces. However, unbeknownst to most there is an entire legalistic framework behind the scenes which is critical in understanding the logistical efficacy on the ground.

“So I think we need to focus right now on what the president is doing and what he is not doing,” explains professor Jessica Levinson in a June 8, 2025 KCAL News report titled, “Law professor Jessica Levinson discusses National Guard deployment.” According to Levinson, a constitutional law professor at Loyola Marymount, “At this point, he has looked to authority he has under a federal statue – Title 10, which essentially allows him to call up the National Guard to provide some sort of backup, some personnel assistance to ICE and other federal law enforcement.

“This is very different than if he does ultimately invoke the Insurrection Act; that is an exception to the Posse Comitatus Act which says in general that the military should not act as a domestic law enforcement force or body,” explains Levinson. “And so, what we’re looking at here is does the president keep this at Title 10, which essentially, again allows the National Guard to come in – in a supporting role only or are we looking at invoking the Insurrection Act which is an exception to the general rule that the military really can’t act like a domestic police force.

“That would provide the National Guard with a lot more substantive authority and that would; I would offer be something that I don’t think historically we’ve ever seen,” explains Levinson. “Where you have a president against the wishes of the governor and the mayor; sending in the National Guard to perform some potentially extensive functions.”

“And tonight we’re hearing possibly that President Trump has spoken with Governor Gavin Newsom,” interjects a reporter in the KCAL News studio. “Both have put out their statements. Newsom pretty much saying we do not want the National Guard here. Is this something that locally, that local leaders can really battle legally against?”

“So, they can try. I mean, let’s lay out some kind of broad legal issues here. Which is, that one, states are separate sovereigns and the federal can’t, in some instances, commandeer the state,” explains Levinson. “You can’t for instance, tell LAPD now you will go act as an agent of ICE – now you will go enforce federal law. But what we see is that there are federal laws on the books that provide the president with broad authority. Particularly when the president says there is an emergency, there’s civil unrest, there’s violence; the ability of federal law enforcement to enforce federal laws is being undermined.

“In those cases, then the president does have the power, I think, to override what the states and the localities want,” explains Levinson. “So where you would see the fighting is whether or not this truly is the type of situation that would allow the president to say to a governor, to a mayor, essentially, ‘I don’t care that you don’t want the National Guard. Here is why I have the authority to send them anyway.’”

Understanding that during the 1992 L.A. Riots the governor of California directed the California National Guard to help restore order in the city before ultimately requesting federal assistance from Washington; it’s important to note that what is occurring now in L.A. is more akin to an invasion rather than assistance from D.C.

“So at this point Mika, as far as we know there’s only about 300 of the National Guard, California National Guard troops who are actually on scene. There are at least three different locations, but remember this authorization is to federalize up to 2,000,” explains NBC News’ Courtney Kube in a June 9, 2025 MSNBC report titled, “500 Marines on standby to deploy to Los Angeles amid protests.”

“So, it would make more sense if they would work through or they would use all 2,000 of those before they would turn to those Marines. But what people need to remember here is, yes, these are California National Guard troops who are being used here, but we heard Jacob earlier talking about them being under Title 10 authority. What that means is they are essentially federalized; they are under the authority of the federal government,” explains Kube. “They are paid by them, they get benefits under the federal government while they’re serving and they are also under the same restrictions that federal troops face when they are operating in the United States.

“Why that is so critical in this case here is because if you have a National Guard soldier who is under California law, who is under California state activation that means that they are answering to and under the authority of the governor, Governor Newsom – who we have heard from earlier in this show already. Now, in that capacity they have some ability to conduct law enforcement missions, to do, to support the local law enforcement,” explains Kube. “But you have a little bit more authority when actually taking on or conducting law enforcement missions.

“Once those troops are federalized, that goes away – they can still support the LAPD and they can support the ICE agents who are there but they cannot make arrests or conduct what we think of as very basic law enforcement activities. That’s a violation of Posse Comitatus, which is an Act that essentially says you can’t have federal troops conducting law enforcement in the continental United States."

“So, they can do very basic things in support of LAPD and ICE. So, traffic enforcement. They can put them outside of federal buildings; that’s one thing that we’ve already seen,” explains Kube later during the interview. “Where they are basically a show of presence; now we have seen from the video and the photos there that they are armed. We have asked about the basic rules of force here. When you’re talking about an overseas mission or combat, you’re talking about Rules of Engagement. When you’re talking in the homeland they refer to it as Rules of Force.

“We don’t have an answer beyond they are still under the authorities, or the basic Rules of Force here. So presumably, that means that they will follow the law and they will protect federal buildings, they will protect ICE agents, they will protect any kind of federal personnel who are there. But they will not engage in things like arrests. You know, like I said they could be at barricades hanging out there.

“One thing that I have been very struck by in this,” notes Kube. “We got a statement from U.S. military command late last night that said they’ve established a task force. They’re calling it Task Force 51; it’s under a two-star general. Generally, when you have something; a brigade combat team is about 3,500 up to 5,000 different troops. This is smaller than them; it’s about half that size – 2,000 troops. That would generally be under the authority of a colonel, okay? Instead, they are putting this task force under a two-star general.

“That shows to me, that shows the significance that they are placing on this mission in general. When they are putting someone so high ranking involved in it,” explains Kube. “Military officials, defense officials that I have spoken with are very concerned of the possibility of the military being used here in ways that they should not be; and actually, the perception that they are actually fighting against or taking on civilians in the streets of L.A.”

Some of the best reporting to come out of the invasion of Los Angeles thus far; perception is reality once a close examination of the facts is undertaken. And according to some sources, the American people should definitely be asking questions.

“I want the press to show the guns so people can understand what kind of situation that we’re in where guns are being brought into our city,” explains Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) in a June 8, 2025 Forbes Breaking News video titled, “Maxine Waters Absolutely Torches Trump For Sending National Guard to LA, Claims He Wants Martial Law.”

“The National Guard being called in and standing watch at the detention center and looking at our protestors as if somehow they are violating the law – they are not, there are peaceful protestors outside and I am afraid that one of those young people might get upset or might something go wrong and those guns will go off; a gun will go off,” explains Waters. “Those guns are not to be here frightening and intimidating our people and anybody in this city.”

“What’s your message to the White House?” one unidentified reporter asks Waters as the interview continues.“My message to the White House is Trump, I wish I could tell you that you should be ashamed, but you have no shame. You are a dishonorable, dirty, cruel, crooked human being. And you have tried to intimidate the city of L.A. You don’t like us, we’re a sanctuary city and if you had anything right in your head you would call it off,” explains Waters. “But you’re not going to call it off, I know what you want. You want martial law; you want to be able to use the power of the presidency to show that you can do whatever you want to do. And so, we don’t want any martial law here, we don’t need it. We don’t want any guns here.”

With a sitting member of congress warning that Los Angeles is on the verge of martial law despite the fact only one-square mile of a 500-square mile city seems to be affected; reports on the ground suggests it may only be a matter of time before the congresswoman is proven correct. In a scene all too reminiscent of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, if the past doesn’t repeat itself – it almost certainly rhymes.

“The U.S. military will temporarily deploy about 700 Marines to Los Angeles until more National Guard troops can arrive, marking another escalation in President Donald Trump’s response to street protests over his aggressive immigration policies,” writes author Jane Ross in a June 9, 2025 Reuters report titled, “US deploys Marines to Los Angeles as Trump backs arrest of California governor.”

“A U.S. official, speaking on anonymity, said a battalion would be sent on temporary duty until more National Guard troops could reach the scene,” explains Ross. “For now, the Trump administration was not invoking the Insurrection Act, which would allow troops to directly participate in civilian law enforcement.”

With the president admitting he has designs to deploy the U.S. military across the entire continental U.S.; it’s interesting to note the presence of a two-star general in charge of Task Force 51 as the perception now turns to “fighting against or taking on civilians in the streets of L.A.” An idea which would have almost assuredly been met with skepticism just a few shorts weeks ago; today skeptics are singing a different tune now that the invasion of Los Angeles is all but underway. Taking a step back to evaluate the bigger picture; it’s time to recognize the broader legal issue of separate sovereigns as some hard truths ultimately force us to accept the fact “this is going to happen. It cannot be stopped. It’s not going to stop until you get in touch with your state legislators and get up in their backside.”