Wisconsin
Wisconsin military historian says situation in Los Angeles could ‘absolutely’ happen here
On Sunday, President Donald Trump activated the California National Guard without the consent of the state’s governor and deployed 700 Marines to the area.
Protests over the moves have broken out across the nation, including in Milwaukee. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed a letter speaking out against the deployment, calling it an alarming abuse of power and stressing the importance of a state’s ability to manage its National Guard.
And California Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a warning to state governors on NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
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“Regardless of your political stripe, this is a preview of things to come,” he said.
John Hall is a military historian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a retired U.S. Army Reserve colonel. He told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” the deployment of the state National Guard could “absolutely” happen here.
“[The president] has made clear that his definition of what constitutes unlawful combinations, in terms of protests, is relatively low,” Hall said. “So where protests emerge, he has threatened he will take similar measures to respond to those protests.”
“Moreover, he seems to be suggesting that states and municipalities that, in his judgment, are interfering with ICE’s mass deportation efforts right now are themselves obstructing the laws of the United States,” Hall continued.
As protests are expected around the country Saturday, including in Wisconsin cities, Hall talked with “Wisconsin Today” about the historic role of the National Guard and why the type of deployment seen in Los Angeles is so rare.
This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Rob Ferrett: Are there standards for when a president can deploy the National Guard despite objections from the governor? What are the steps that are usually taken in a situation like this?
John Hall: It’s helpful to keep in mind the original context in which Congress decided to make this delegation of authority to the president. It was an era in which Congress would go into recess and be days or weeks away from the national capital.
The idea was the president cannot sit on his hands if a foreign force invades the United States, waiting for Congress to come back to New York or Philadelphia and eventually Washington to authorize him to do this. So it really was almost a response to technological incapacity of that era.
But generally speaking, the one that the president has teased he is considering invoking is the so-called Insurrection Act. It generally speaks to the same sort of conditions of invasions or rebellions, unlawful combinations, things that prevent the execution of the laws of the state or the federal government.
RF: It seems like in American history, we’ve been more reluctant to use active duty military for law enforcement and security purposes.
JH: Absolutely and with very good reason. So the nation was founded with a congenital fear of what they then called standing armies. That is the idea that regular army soldiers kept under arms and in uniform and under military discipline in times of peace, historically, had shown themselves to be the tools of tyrants, and so the founding generation did not want such an army.
A lot of the debate that’s going on right now about the current deployment sort of hints around the concerns of this historically, but the one thing that it misses is that the regular forces of the United States have wanted to stay far clear of these kinds of deployments throughout history.
Past cases in which they have been deployed in this manner have really put them in the crosshairs of acrimonious political debates where they do not like to be. Particularly post-Vietnam, it took the military a generation to rebuild public trust and they are very, very wary of squandering that public trust by being thrust into circumstances like this.
RF: The National Guard might help with voting during the pandemic or for civil disturbances. They might deploy overseas. They have some training relevant to this. But active duty troops like the Marines, do they have training when it comes to handling protests?
Not generally. It would be specialized training in preparation for a particular contingency or mission.
The National Guard is sort of a Swiss Army knife. It’s another one of the reasons why it is the force of first resort when the local capacity of law enforcement has been exceeded, and you need to enhance that capacity, or you need additional capabilities.
The National Guard is very well integrated with other state agencies. And the troops of the National Guard, depending upon their specific specialty, may be trained in how to respond to riots as a matter of course.
Not to say that they are beyond criticism. Two of the most regrettable events in the history of the National Guard were in 1970 with deadly shootings at Kent State and Jackson State.
But that notwithstanding, the National Guard is generally more competent in the measured use of force to respond to these kinds of emergencies.
Whereas within the Army or Marine Corps forces, that’s not generally what they train to do on a day-to-day basis if they get orders.
In a bit of a surprise, Wisconsin Badgers starting center Jake Renfro is using a medical hardship year and entering the transfer portal for his final season of eligibility.
Renfro, a sixth-year senior in 2024, battled numerous injuries this season, limiting him to only four games after having season-ending surgery. He was a full-time starter for Wisconsin in 2024 after missing the entire 2023 season except for the team’s bowl game due to injury.
Prior to his time at Wisconsin, Renfro had played for head coach Luke Fickell at Cincinnati for three seasons. He played in seven games as a freshman in 2020, making six starts at center. He then was the full-time starter as a sophomore in 2021, earning All-AAC honors before missing the entire 2022 season due to injury.
Now, he’s set to come back to college football for a seventh year, rather than turn pro, and will look to do so at another school.
“I want to thank Coach Fickell, the entire coaching and training staff, my teammates, and the University of Wisconsin for everything over the past three seasons,” Renfro wrote. “I am grateful for the support, development, friendships, and memories I have made during my time in Madison. After much prayer and consideration, I have decided to enter the transfer portal and use a medical hardship year to continue my college football journey. I will always appreciate my time as a Badger.”
Renfro was one of the biggest supporters of Fickell publicly, being a vocal leader on the team as the starting center.
With his departure, Wisconsin could need a new starting left tackle, left guard, and center next season, depending on whether Joe Brunner heads to the NFL or returns for another season.
Wisconsin volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield discusses tournament win
Wisconsin volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield commented on the Badgers’ ‘huge’ win over North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
MADISON — It did not take long for Alicia Andrew to text her younger sister after watching the NCAA volleyball selection show with her Wisconsin teammates in a lounge area in the south end zone of Camp Randall Stadium.
“I was like, ‘Girl!’” Andrew said. “She’s like, ‘I know! I’ll see you in Texas! And I was like, ‘I’m so excited!’”
Andrew will not see her younger sister in the Gregory Gym stands like any other family members, but rather on the court as an opposing player in the Badgers’ NCAA tournament regional semifinal match against Stanford.
Alicia Andrew is a 6-foot-3 redshirt senior middle blocker for Wisconsin. Lizzy Andrew is a 6-foot-5 sophomore middle blocker for Stanford. The sisters will play against each other for the first time with a spot in the NCAA regional finals on the line.
“Certainly when you’re having two high-level Division I starters on teams that are top five, top 10 in the country playing the same position, that’s pretty unique,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said. “They’re both talented and competitive. But I also know that the players aren’t going to make it about themselves or the person that’s on the other side of the net. They’re parts of teams that are trying to move on and move forward and play great volley.”
Alicia has naturally fielded questions about the sibling rivalry, but she is “not reading too much into rivalry stuff and just playing this sport.”
“It’s another game,” she said after a recent UW practice. “Yes, it’s her across the net. But it’s a business. We both want to move on to the next round.”
Both players have played key parts in their respective teams’ path to this stage.
Alicia, after transferring from Baylor, is the only UW player to appear in all 98 sets this season and one of five to appear in all 30 matches. She is second on the team with 111 blocks, barely trailing fellow middle blocker Carter Booth’s 119.
“Really wants to be good for the people around her,” Sheffield said of Alicia. “Wants to do her job. Takes pride in her job. There’s a maturity, but yet there’s a playfulness that is a really good balance for her. Love coaching her. She’s wired the right way. She really is.”
Lizzy, meanwhile, ranks seventh in the country with a .441 hitting percentage in 2025 after earning a spot on the all-ACC freshman team in 2024. She also has experience playing with the U.S. U21 national team.
“I’m so proud of how hard she worked and her journey to Stanford,” Alicia said. “She puts in so much work, and she just loves the sport of volleyball. And I have loved watching her grow. It’s been fun to see her get better and better every year. And this past season, she’s been playing lights out.”
That pride has turned Alicia into a frequent viewer of ACC volleyball, of course whenever it has not conflicted with the Badgers’ own matches.
“We try to watch as many of each other’s games as we can, and I always just love watching her play,” she said. “I’m so proud of her. She’s just worked her tail off at Stanford, so to see her excel has been so fun.”
The Andrew sisters — Alicia, Lizzy and Natalie, who is on the rowing team at the U.S. Naval Academy — competed together in high school. (They also have a younger brother, William.) Competing against each other is a new concept for them, though.
“We’re not huge trash talkers, neither one of us,” Alicia said. “So I think that she’s going to play her game. I’m going to play my game. We’re going to have our heads down. There might be some looking across and smiling because we make the exact same expressions and quirky faces and reactions.”
The sisters don’t look the same – Lizzy has blonde hair and Alicia has brown hair. But Alicia quickly sees the resemblance with those on-court mannerisms.
“If there’s a silly play or if there is like a really unexpected dump or something, she’ll turn around and make the exact same face that I will,” Alicia said. “And it’s funny watching her on TV because I’m like, ‘Wow, that looks scary familiar.’”
They have some similarities off the court, too.
“We’re just goobers,” Alicia said. “We just like to have a good time together. Obviously she’s my little sister, but we have always been a close family — like all the siblings — so I feel like we’ve done all the things together growing up in all the sports.”
The Andrew parents are perhaps the biggest winners of the NCAA tournament bracket.
“My parents were super excited,” Alicia said. “They don’t have to split the travel plan, so they can save some frequent flyer miles there and both be in Texas. … They’re always trying to coordinate all the schedules.”
The Andrew family made T-shirts for the unique sisterly matchup. (Alicia thinks she is getting one considering they asked her and Lizzy for their shirt sizes in the family group chat.) The shirts are black, too, so there is no favoritism between Wisconsin and Stanford’s variations of cardinal red.
“They have a Stanford ‘S’ and a tree on it and then a Wisconsin ‘W’ and a little Badger on it, too,” Andrew said. “They’re really excited about these shirts. They’re being non-biased; they’re repping both daughters.”
RICHMOND TOWNSHIP, Wis. (FOX 9) – A crash in western Wisconsin killed an 8-year-old boy and seriously injured a 27-year-old Wednesday morning.
Fatal crash in Richmond Township, Wisconsin
What we know:
According to St. Croix County, just before 10 a.m., deputies responded to a crash on the 1500 block of County Road A.
Authorities say that a 27-year-old woman was driving a van southbound, and lost control on an icy curve and collided with another vehicle.
The woman suffered serious injuries from the crash and was taken to the hospital to be treated, law enforcement said. The boy was critically injured, and was also taken to the hospital, where he later died.
Both were wearing seat belts during the crash.
The driver of the other vehicle was treated for minor injuries at the scene and was released.
This is the 10th traffic fatality in St. Croix County.
What we don’t know:
The current condition of the woman is unknown.
The Source: A press release from St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office.
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