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.
However, 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.

A California Highway Patrol officer stands guard April 30, 1992, at Ninth Street and Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles as smoke rises from a fire further down the street.
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.
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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.

A Los Angeles police officer takes aim at a looter April 30, 1992, in a market at Alvarado and Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles during the second night of rioting in the city.
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.
Unlike the 1992 riots, protests in the past week mainly were peaceful and 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 were burned.

Demonstrators protest the verdict in the Rodney King beating case April 29, 1992, in front of the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters.
At least 50 people were arrested for everything from failing to follow orders to leave to looting, assault on a police officer and attempted murder for tossing a Molotov cocktail.
Several officers had minor injuries and protesters and some journalists were struck by some of the more than 600 rubber bullets and other “less-lethal” munitions fired by police.

A Korean shopping mall burns April 30, 1992, in Los Angeles on the second day of rioting in the city following the acquittal of four police officers for the 1991 beating of motorist Rodney King.
The 1992 uprising took many by surprise, including the Los Angeles Police Department, but the King verdict was a catalyst for racial tensions that built up 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.
Photos: Protesters clash with law enforcement in Los Angeles

California National Guard guard the Federal Building on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Diego Coloma rests on a railing as he looks on at law enforcement officers during a protest on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A man raises his fist as California National Guardsmen look on during a protest on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Demonstrators march during a protest Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Protesters gather to denounce ICE, U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement, operations Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo Damian Dovarganes)

California Highway Patrol officers clash with protesters on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

California Highway Patrol push protesters back along a street during a protest on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A protester yells at police and federal agents in an action to denounce the ICE, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, operations in the area Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A protester is arrested by California Highway Patrol near the federal building in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Protesters are detained by law enforcement near the federal building in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A protester is arrested by California Highway Patrol near the federal building in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A protester offers a flower to Los Angeles police officers in riot gear while they attempt to clear a street in downtown Los Angeles on Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo Jae Hong)

A person carrying multiple flags walks past a burning car during protests over the Trump administration's immigration raids in Los Angeles, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Protesters jump over a fence to avoid being kettled by police during protests over the Trump administration's immigration raids in Los Angeles, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

An injured protester is tended to by another during protests over the Trump administration's immigration raids in Los Angeles, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Protesters gather outside the federal building to denounce the ICE, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, operations in the area Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Tear gas fills the street as protesters confront Border Patrol personnel during a demonstration over the dozens detained in an operation by federal immigration authorities a day earlier, in Paramount, Calif., on Saturday, June 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A car burns during a protest in Compton, Calif., Saturday, June 7, 2025, after federal immigration authorities conducted operations. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A person carries an injured protester to cover during a protest in Compton, Calif., Saturday, June 7, 2025, after federal immigration authorities conducted operations. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Authorities stand in tear gas while trying to clear protesters at the metropolitan detention center in downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Jae Hong)

A protester is detained by police in downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A protester is detained in downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A police officer's face is covered in pepper spray outside the Metropolitan Detention Center of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Jae Hong)

Maribel Parra screams as protesters confront a line of police near the metropolitan detention center of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Jae Hong)

Protesters are seen on the 101 Freeway near the Metropolitan Detention Center of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A protester throws a smoke canister on the 101 Freeway near the Metropolitan Detention Center of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Protesters confront police on the 101 Freeway near the Metropolitan Detention Center of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A protester holds a sign as a Waymo taxi burns near the metropolitan detention center of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A police officer fires a soft round near the metropolitan detention center of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Protesters take cover behind chairs near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Officers make their way down a ramp to the 101 Freeway near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Matt Hobbs uses milk after being teargassed near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Two California Highway Patrol officers try to dodge rocks being thrown near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A protester throws a scooter at a police vehical near the metropolitan detention center of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY A flash bomb explodes on the 101 Freeway near the metropolitan detention center of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

People take cover as a fire work explodes during a protest near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

A woman waves the Mexican flag as flames erupt from a burning dumpster during a protest in downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

A California Highway Patrol officer pulls an electric scooter off a vehicle on a highway as protesters throw objects at the police vehicles near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)