I believe you are correct that the guard cannot be called out without the Governor declaring a state of emergency.
I think he’s trying to prevent a Rodney King Riots situation. The local police in LA were completely overwhelmed, and the rioting there did not come to an end until the California National Guard, an Army division (7th Infantry), AND the marines were called in.
How this is legal when the US military is not supposed to go against the citizenry I have never figured out, but apparently riots justify it somehow.
The Koreans helped out.
“How this is legal when the US military is not supposed to go against the citizenry I have never figured out, but apparently riots justify it somehow.”
You are mistaken. Federal armed forces are mandated by the U.S. Constitution as a duty of the Federal Government in the event of insurrections and so forth. The Possee Comitatus law does not apply in such situations.