rodney king gave an impromptu news conference in front of his lawyer's office, tearfully saying, "people, i just want to say, you know, can we all get along?" that morning, at 1:00 am, governor wilson had requested federal assistance. upon request, bush invoked the insurrection act with , federalizing the california army national guard and authorizing federal troops to help restore law and order. with bush's authority, the pentagon activated operation garden plot, placing the california army national guard and federal troops under the newly formed joint task force los angeles (jtf-la). the deployment of federal troops was not ready until saturday, by which time the rioting and looting were under control.