Dr. Erroll Southers spoke with NBC News about the Insurrection Act, its use during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, and the suggestion that the U.S. President may use the act to disrupt peaceful protests across the country in the wake of the killing of George Floyd. The article notes in part:

The riots changed how the LAPD functioned. In the following decades, the department hired more people of color into its lower and upper ranks. Some officers turned into community liaisons and became more involved in the daily lives of residents. Police were encouraged to stop driving through neighborhoods and to learn the names of people who lived in them, instead.

Southers worries that if a military response to the current unrest were to sour relations between communities and law enforcement, police officers would ultimately pay the price, not just in Los Angeles but also across the country.

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