Military Response to Civil Unrest

Greg Smith spent 35 years in the Army National Guard. But he’s never witnessed the military used the way it’s being deployed in Los Angeles in response to protests opposing the Trump administration’s immigration raids. On this week’s More To The Story, Smith discusses how the military appears increasingly tasked with enforcing a political agenda rather than defending the Constitution.

Producer: Josh Sanburn, with help from Artis Curiskis | Editor: Kara McGuirk-Allison | Theme music: Fernando Arruda and Jim Briggs | Digital producer: Nikki Frick | Interim executive producers: Brett Myers and Taki Telonidis | Executive editor: James West | Host: Al Letson

• Donate today at Revealnews.org/more
• Subscribe to our weekly newsletter at Revealnews.org/weekly
• Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky

Listen: Trump’s Mass Deportations Are Decades in the Making (More To The Story)
Listen: Immigrants on the Line (Reveal)
Read: The “Twisted” History of Trump’s Legal Theory for Using Troops Against Protesters (Mother Jones)

Read: Confessions of a Weekend Warrior: Thirty-Five Years in the National Guard (Greg Smith)

Note: If you buy a book using our Bookshop link, a small share of the proceeds supports our journalism.