When the Troops Come Home—To Police Us
A Brief History of U.S. Military Force Turned Inward
When the National Guard rolls into town, the visual is unmistakable: camo-clad soldiers, rifles slung, standing watch not in Baghdad, but Bakersfield. And this week, troops in Los Angeles.
It’s not a new thing.
Presidents and governors have called on military force—National Guard or active-duty military—many times to quell unrest, enforce laws, or flex control. Sometimes the justification is security. Sometimes it’s order. And sometimes, it’s a show of force.
Here’s a brief timeline of when U.S. troops were used against U.S. citizens on U.S. soil. You can see the uneasy interplay of conflicting intentions whenever that call is made.
1877 – The Great Railroad Strike
President Rutherford B. Hayes sent federal troops to break a massive rail strike that had spread across multiple states. In Pittsburgh, soldiers opened fire on a crowd, killing more than 20 people. The move crushed the strike.
1894 – The Pullman Strike
Another labor standoff, this time involving the American Railway Union. President Grover Cleveland ordered in troops to break the strike, despite objections from Illinois' governor. Violence erupted. Again, force won. Property and profits were restored.
1932 – The Bonus Army
World War I veterans marched on Washington demanding their promised bonuses—early. They set up a tent city. President Herbert Hoover eventually ordered troops, including tanks and cavalry led by General MacArthur, to clear them out. The result was chaos, tear gas, and burned shelters.
1957 – Little Rock, Arkansas
President Eisenhower sent in the 101st Airborne to enforce school integration after the state’s governor tried to block Black students from entering Little Rock Central High. The soldiers protected them—but it took the U.S. Army to enforce basic constitutional rights.
1967–1968 – Civil Rights and Riots
From Detroit to Washington D.C., National Guard units were called in to suppress riots after decades of racial injustice and police brutality boiled over. Fires burned. So did communities. In some cities, the Guard stayed for days.
1970 – Kent State University
Ohio National Guard troops opened fire on anti-war protesters. Four students were killed, nine injured. No warning. The image of a young woman screaming over a body on the pavement became one of the most haunting photos of the 20th century.
1992 – Los Angeles Riots
After the acquittal of LAPD officers who beat Rodney King, South Central L.A. erupted. The National Guard was mobilized, later joined by active-duty Marines and Army troops. The deployment restored order—but not trust.
2005 – Hurricane Katrina
In the chaos following the storm, National Guard and even private contractors roamed New Orleans. Some helped. Some harassed. The line between rescue and occupation blurred. The poor bore the brunt.
2020 – George Floyd Protests
Guard units were deployed to dozens of cities as protests swept the country after the murder of George Floyd. In Washington, D.C., active-duty troops were even prepped for possible deployment. Tear gas cleared Lafayette Square so a president could pose with a Bible.
And those are just the big ones. Smaller deployments—against Native tribes, labor unions, students, and immigrants—dot the American landscape.
I’ll leave you with the words of Admiral William Adama from Battlestar Galactica:
“There’s a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state. The other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people.”