[Yeah, the guard is good.
Not the army.]
Many state and local officials will not act to protect the property rights of their residents, but are actually aiding and abetting the law breakers in their destruction and thievery. Trump could, therefore, invoke Eisenhower’s justification:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act#2006%E2%80%9307_suspension
[In the mid-20th century, the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower used an exception to the Posse Comitatus Act, derived from the Enforcement Acts, to send federal troops into Little Rock, Arkansas, during the 1957 school desegregation crisis. The Arkansas governor had opposed desegregation after the United States Supreme Court ruled in 1954 in the Brown v. Board of Education that segregated public schools were unconstitutional. The Enforcement Acts, among other powers, allowed the president to call up military forces when state authorities were either unable or unwilling to suppress violence that were in opposition to the citizens’ constitutional rights.[5]]
Given that Democratic governors and municipal officials are now complicit in the destruction wrought by rioters and will neither protect business owners nor restore order, I think Trump is well within his authority in putting troops on the streets. The question is whether he has enough troops and what the electoral impact is going to be. Given that the press has been doing the whole Orange Hitler routine pretty much since the inauguration, I’m not even sure it’s even a risky play, politically. They’ve cried wolf way too often.
And Trump is held responsible by voters for rioting in the streets, even though it’s not really within the normal scope of his authority to put riots down. Voters aren’t legal scholars. They’re not up on the Posse Comitatus Act. If Trump’s going to be held responsible anyway, then he should use Federal resources and get this resolved. Bush wasn’t responsible for Katrina’s aftermath. He was held responsible anyway. There’s a lesson in that.
I see this as an opportunity to lock up a bunch of criminals and take felons off the voter rolls, while reminding both owners and employees of small businesses that he has their backs, even if Democratic state and local officials would be content to let them be wiped out financially. The problem with GOP presidents is that they’ve often tied their own hands with respect to scofflaw Democratic local officials where Democrats have ridden roughshod over Republican ones. It’s time to return the favor.
Remember what happened to the Sheriff of Maricopa County, Joe Arpaio, when he acted up against Obama’s edicts? Trump can do the same against the state and local officials that resist his efforts to restore order.