law enforcement and intelligence agencies approach the problem.ДЄ decade ago, when I began studying the organization and tactics of groups that are openly arming and training for conflict inside the United States (roughly 380 right-leaning militias and 50 left-wing armed groups), I approached an FBI friend with a simple question: вЂњHow is this legal?вЂќ He responded with a question of his own: вЂњAre they advocating the armed overthrow of the state? If theyвЂ™re not, and theyвЂ™re not violating other laws such as firearms statutes, what theyвЂ™re doing is perfectly legal.вЂќДЇor the most part, in fact, U.S. Insurrection, then, is narrower than insurgency, which the military defines as вЂњorganized use of subversion and violence to seize, nullify, or challenge political control of a region.вЂќ This has implications for how U.S. It is an organized, armed uprising with the intent of overthrowing and replacing governing authority. Nor is it simply the exclusion of government from a no-go area such as SeattleвЂ™s Capitol Hill. It means вЂњa violent uprising by a group or movement acting for the specific purpose of overthrowing the constituted government and seizing its powers.вЂќ Insurrection is not mere rioting, looting, or mob violence, even if politically motivated. вЂњInsurrectionвЂќ has a specific meaning under U.S. Instead, she said, вЂњ I choose to call it an insurrection.вЂќ The following day, Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas wrote that under todayвЂ™s circumstances, вЂњthe Insurrection Act authorizes the president to employ the military вЂor any other meansвЂ™ in вЂcases of insurrection, or obstruction to the laws.вЂ™вЂќ The controversy around CottonвЂ™s piece вЂ“ which prompted the purging of New York Times opinion editor James Bennet вЂ“ obscured the fact that Cotton and Waters share a similar assessment, while differing on the response. In an interview on June 3, California Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters rejected the term вЂњrioting,вЂќ which she considers racist, to describe the unrest. But the truth is more complex, and a term used by both sides offers some clarity here: вЂњinsurrection.вЂќ Millions heard the words вЂњAntifaвЂќ and вЂњBoogalooвЂќ for the first time and instantly decided, on purely partisan grounds, that they knew precisely what the problem was and that вЂ“ oddly enough вЂ“ the same political opponents they already hated were to blame. Extremists on both the left and right exploited the chaos. Amid the tear gas and brick-throwing, more than 11,000 people were arrested hundreds were hurt, and at least 20 were killed. troops deployed in the capital helicopters buzzed protesters and police armored vehicles appeared on the streets, while Predator drones and other aircraft flew surveillance racetracks over Minneapolis and 14 other cities. In the two weeks of disorder that followed the death of George Floyd, 200 cities imposed curfews 31 states and the District of Columbia called out the National Guard active-duty U.S.

Insurgency