The images of cars set ablaze, protesters tossing rocks at police and officers firing nonlethal rounds and tear gas at protesters hearkens back to the last time a president sent the National Guard to respond to violence on Los Angeles streets.

But the unrest during several days of protests over immigration enforcement is far different in scale from the 1992 riots that followed the acquittal of white police officers who were videotaped beating Black motorist Rodney King.

President George H.W. Bush used the Insurrection Act to call in the National Guard after requests from Mayor Tom Bradley and Gov. Pete Wilson. After the current protests began Friday over Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of 4,100 National Guard troops and 700 Marines despite strident opposition from Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Trump cited a legal provision to mobilize federal service members when there is “a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.” California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit Monday saying Trump had overstepped his authority. On Tuesday, Newsom filed an emergency motion in federal court to block the troops from assisting with immigration raids in Los Angeles.

Unlike the 1992 riots, protests have mainly been peaceful and been confined to a roughly five-block stretch of downtown LA, a tiny patch in the sprawling city of nearly 4 million people. No one has died. There's been vandalism and some cars set on fire but no homes or buildings have burned.

More than 100 people have been arrested over the past several days of protests. The vast majority of arrests were for failing to disperse, while a few others were for assault with a deadly weapon, looting, vandalism and attempted murder for tossing a Molotov cocktail.

Several officers have had minor injuries and protesters and some journalists have been struck by some of the more than 600 rubber bullets and other “less-lethal” munitions fired by police.

Outrage over the verdicts on April 29, 1992 led to nearly a week of widespread violence that was one of the deadliest riots in American history. Hundreds of businesses were looted. Entire blocks of homes and stores were torched. More than 60 people died in shootings and other violence, mostly in South Los Angeles, an area with a heavily Black population at the time.

The 1992 uprising took many by surprise, including the Los Angeles Police Department, but the King verdict was a catalyst for racial tensions that had been building in the city for years.

In addition to frustration with their treatment by police, some directed their anger at Korean merchants who owned many of the local stores. Black residents felt the owners treated them more like shoplifters than shoppers. As looting and fires spread toward Koreatown, some merchants protected their stores with shotguns and rifles.

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The National Guard Was Sent to L.A. in 1992. This Is Different

Armed with machine guns and grenade launchers, National Guard soldiers hold a line on Crenshaw Blvd. in South Central L.A. in 1992. Credit - Ted Soqui/Corbis via Getty Images

More than three decades before President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles in response to protests over immigration raids, another President called up the military to quell civil unrest in the same city. But the circumstances are very different this time around.

In 1992, President George H.W. Bush mobilized the National Guard to Los Angeles due to riots that broke out following the acquittal of white police officers who were charged with assaulting Rodney King, an unarmed Black man.

The National Guard’s deployment came at the request of California’s then-Gov. Pete Wilson and Mayor Tom Bradley, as multiple days of rioting caused extensive damage in the city and left dozens dead.

Compared to the destruction and violence in 1992, the damage resulting from the demonstrations thus far against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been minor. And President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles against the wishes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, marking the first time a President has done so without the governor’s consent in six decades.

Here’s what to know about the National Guard’s mobilization in 1992—and how it differs from the current situation.

Why was the National Guard deployed to Los Angeles in 1992?

The city of Los Angeles descended into widespread unrest on April 29, 1992, after a jury acquitted four police officers who were videotaped beating Rodney King.

Over the course of several days, more than 60 people died, while another 2,000 were injured. More than 1,000 buildings were defaced, leading to damages that amounted to some $1 billion.

Bush called up the National Guard under the Insurrection Act, which authorizes the President to deploy the typically state-controlled military force in certain situations involving invasions or insurrections, on the third day of the riots

“What followed Wednesday's jury verdict in the Rodney King case was a tragic series of events for the city of Los Angeles: Nearly 4,000 fires, staggering property damage, hundreds of injuries, and the senseless deaths of over 30 people,” Bush said in an address at the time. He went on to announce the commitment of thousands of additional troops to the city “to help restore order” at the behest of the governor and mayor, and the federalization of the National Guard.

Why is Trump’s mobilization of the National Guard different?

Demonstrations began in Los Angeles on Friday in response to immigration raids targeting undocumented workers. The Los Angeles Police Department on Saturday referred to the protests as “peaceful,” though some escalated as rocks and Molotov cocktails were thrown and cars were set on fire.

The city’s mayor, Karen Bass, downplayed the extent of the demonstrations in an interview with CNN. “This is not citywide civil unrest taking place in Los Angeles. A few streets downtown – it looks horrible,” she said, adding that people who committed acts of vandalism would be arrested and prosecuted.

But on Saturday, Trump deployed 2,000 members of the National Guard to the city. Rather than the Insurrection Act, which Bush used, he invoked Section 12406 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code.

That provision allows the President to call in the National Guard in situations where authorities can't execute the country’s laws with “regular forces,” or if an invasion or rebellion is underway or there is the threat of one.

It also specifies that “orders for these purposes shall be issued through the governors of the States or, in the case of the District of Columbia, through the commanding general of the National Guard of the District of Columbia.”

Far from asking for the National Guard to be mobilized, Newsom requested that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “immediately rescind” the federal order and “return the National Guard to its rightful control by the State of California, to be deployed as appropriate when necessary.”

The governor sued Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday, claiming that the act surpassed the federal government’s authority and violated the Tenth Amendment. “Let me be clear: There is no invasion. There is no rebellion. The President is trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a Monday statement.

Bass, too, has vocally opposed the National Guard’s deployment, calling it a “chaotic escalation.”

“The fear people are feeling in our city right now is very real – it’s felt in our communities and within our families and it puts our neighborhoods at risk. This is the last thing that our city needs,” the mayor said in a Sunday post on X.

Trump further escalated the mounting tensions over the mobilization on Monday by suggesting that Newsom should be arrested over his handling of the demonstrations in Los Angeles.

U.S. Northern Command announced later in the afternoon that 700 Marines have also been deployed to the city.

Newsom criticized that move as well in a post on X, calling Trump “dictatorial.”

“U.S. Marines have served honorably across multiple wars in defense of democracy,” he wrote. “They are heroes. They shouldn't be deployed on American soil facing their own countrymen to fulfill the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial President. This is un-American.”

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers Tuesday that he and President Donald Trump have the power to send National Guard and active-duty troops anywhere in the country to ensure Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents can enforce the law, an assertion that -- if carried out -- would open the door to a historic clash between Trump and Democratic governors.

"We believe that ICE, which is a federal law enforcement agency, has the right to safely conduct operations in any state, in any jurisdiction in the country," Hegseth told the House Appropriations Defense subcommittee.

"ICE ought be able to do its job, whether it's Minneapolis or Los Angeles," he added.

Hegseth's testimony before a House panel came as some 4,800 National Guard and Marines were en route to Los Angeles for a 60-day deployment after protestors clashed with law enforcement, setting cars on fire and spraying graffiti on buildings.

President Donald Trump also opened the door for possible military deployments elsewhere, telling reporters on Tuesday that if protests break out in other states "they will be met with equal or greater force."

The move to call in U.S. troops, including 700 Marines, ignored objections by state authorities and was sharply criticized by Democratic lawmakers and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who called the deployment inflammatory and warned it would only escalate tensions.

At Tuesday's hearing, Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota, the top Democrat on the House subcommittee, called the decision "premature" and "downright escalatory." She said Marines aren't suited for a domestic mission in which they could be asked to use their combat training and firepower, typically reserved for foreign adversaries, on Americans.

"Active-duty military has absolutely no role in domestic law enforcement, and they are not trained for those missions. I ask you, Mister secretary, and I ask the president, follow the law," she said.

The Pentagon's top acting budget official, Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell, estimated the deployment would cost $134 million and said the money would be pulled from existing operations and maintenance accounts.

The Trump administration said the troops are being used under a legal authority known as Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which allows the president to deploy military forces to protect federal buildings and personnel in cases of "a rebellion or danger of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States" or when "the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States."

U.S. officials said the "rules for force" for such an engagement would restrict troops from patrolling U.S. streets or helping law enforcement arrest protestors. Troops would carry guns and ammunition separately for use only in self-defense and to protect federal property.

But experts say the rules of protecting federal buildings and personnel could get murky if service members are asked to protect ICE personnel during an immigration raid or if protestors attack buildings.

Rachel VanLandingham, a professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles and former chief legal advisor to U.S. Central Command, said she is skeptical that Marines who are trained to fight and win foreign wars are sufficiently trained to police Americans.

"Protection means you protect by using force. So, what kind of force are we using? What kind of forces are they trained to use?" she told ABC's "Start Here" podcast.

"You fight like you train," and "they have never trained to be working with the National Guard in this capacity," she added.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith said that the 700 Marines were trained in crowd control as part of their standard annual training protocols. He noted the Marines were equipped with shields and batons.

"I would say that all Marines are trained in crowd control, embassy reinforcement, etc. So, this is part of their training," Smith told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

When asked how much training in crowd control they received, Smith said he believed it was "in excess of two hours."

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, said she was skeptical that amount was adequate, noting police forces typically receive 600 hours of crowd control training by comparison.

"I don't question that these things in LA have gotten violent. That's not my question, and I condemn it. I'm worried about the reputation of the US military in the United States of America," she said, adding that Marines were "designed" to be lethal.

"The idea that an apolitical military, which we all should cherish and value, are now going to be thrown into a situation" isn't right, she said. "We don't need them to create a dramatic story."

Still in question is whether Trump is considering to escalate the situation by invoking the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that says the president can call on a militia or the U.S. armed forces if there's been "any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy" in a state that "opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws." Such a declaration, which incredibly rare, would effectively turn U.S. troops into his own police force that could be used against protestors.

The Insurrection Act has been invoked in response to 30 crises over its history, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, including by presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy to desegregate schools after the Supreme Court's landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education.

The hearing was supposed to be a review of President Donald Trump's upcoming budget, which has not been released. Hegseth spoke only in broad strokes about the military's spending plan, instead highlighting recent gains in recruiting numbers and speaking in general about the importance of new technology initiatives in the Army.

On his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump referred to the L.A. protesters as "violent, insurrectionist mobs" and "paid insurrectionists."

The Pentagon has not had a news conference since the deployment of troops to Los Angeles, referring reporters with questions about the mission on Monday to Hegseth's posts on the social media site X.

Following his testimony, Hegseth traveled with the president to Fort Bragg in North Carolina to participate in activities tied to the Army's 250th birthday celebration.