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Has Donald Trump Invoked the Insurrection Act?
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The Dispatch Fact Check

Has Donald Trump Invoked the Insurrection Act?

No. The law requires a president to issue a public proclamation.

Khaya Himmelman
Jan 14, 2021
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Has Donald Trump Invoked the Insurrection Act?
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(Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)

After a violent mob stormed the Capitol on January 6 to protest Joe Bidenโ€™s electoral victory several social media posts claiming that President Donald Trump had invoked the Insurrection Act, began circulating online.ย 

Twitter avatar for @MichaelSallaMichael Salla @MichaelSalla
Insurrection Act was signed last night by Pres Trump according to multiple sources. Reliable source is Michael Jaco, a former Navy Seal, who announced it just now on his YouTube channel. Vatican, Italy, Germany, Pakistan all linked to foreign interference:
Things Are Going to Move Quickly Now. Stay Frosty and Get Ready for Emergency Broadcasts๐Ÿงฌ ๐™๐™ค ๐™…๐™ค๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™‹๐™ง๐™š๐™ข๐™ž๐™š๐™ง ๐™ˆ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ก๐™ฎ ๐™Š๐™ฃ๐™ก๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™š ๐™ˆ๐™š๐™ข๐™—๐™š๐™ง๐™จ๐™๐™ž๐™ฅ ๐™‚๐™ง๐™ค๐™ช๐™ฅ ๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ ๐™๐™ค๐™ง๐™ข๐™š๐™ง ๐™๐™Ž ๐™‰๐™–๐™ซ๐™ฎ ๐™Ž๐™€๐˜ผ๐™‡ ๐™ˆ๐™ž๐™˜๐™...youtube.com

January 10th 2021

4,374 Retweets9,238 Likes

One viral Facebook post shows a screenshot of a Parler account identified as @TeamTrumpNews that claims that President Trump invoked the Insurrection Act in response to what is described as a โ€œtreasonous rebellion by Democrat & Republican lawmakers.โ€ Part of the widely shared post reads as follows: โ€œI have invoked the The Insurrection Act of 1807, to address the treasonous rebellion conducted by Democrat & Republican lawmakers, CCP agents, the FBI, DOJ, CIA & others to undermine, corrode, and dismantle the United States of America and its constitution.โ€

The claim that Trump has invoked the Insurrection Act is false.ย 

Michel Paradis, who teaches military and constitutional law at Columbia Law School, says the Insurrection Act gives the president the power to use the military in situations of โ€œextreme civil disturbance.โ€ The act, said Paradis, โ€œis literally designed to give the government, the president specifically, the power to use the military to protect the continuity of constitutional government in America.โ€

In order to use the Insurrection Act, continued Paradis, the president needs to issue a proclamation, which he said is โ€œthe equivalent of a cease and desist order.โ€ The fact that Trump hasnโ€™t issued a proclamation is evidence that the Insurrection Act hasnโ€™t been invoked.

Stephen Vladeck, professor at the University of Texas Law School, elaborated on this point in an email to The Dispatch Fact Check:

โ€œUnlike almost any other federal statute, invocation of the Insurrection Act requires the president to issue a formal, public proclamation that he has activated his authority. Indeed, the whole point is that he has to notify those against whom force is to be used that the troops are on their way,โ€ he said. โ€œAnd even if the president does invoke that statute, it does not bring with it the imposition of martial law. All the Insurrection Act does is allow the president to use the federal military to supplement civilian law enforcement, not to supplant it.โ€

ย โ€œJust as a simple straightforward legal matter, the Insurrection Act has not been invoked because the president has not invoked it,โ€ explained Paradis. โ€œIt has to be publicly invoked โ€ฆ... thereโ€™s no ambiguity, it doesnโ€™t lend itself to conspiracy theories.โ€

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Counterpoint
Jan 14, 2021

But they had a reliable source with no government role or contacts posting to YouTube from his basement. It just seemed so credible.

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Ryan
Jan 14, 2021

Oh wow now the Vatican is in on the fix too? Who knew!

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