What could go wrong when military are mixed with police?

[intrepidity]

From a Guardian article about low morale amongst the military deployed to L.A.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/12/los-angeles-national-guard-troops-marines-morale

I did not recall this incident from 1992, but it is a vivid illustration of wcgw.

The LA operations are also sparking safety concerns because of complications inherent in pairing military and domestic police officers, advocates say, since they are trained very differently and use different vocabulary to handle emergency situations. In one infamous episode during the 1992 Los Angeles riots – the last time the military were called out to restore order in southern California – a police officer on patrol turned to his marines counterparts and said “cover me”, meaning be ready with your weapon to make sure I stay safe.

To the marines, though, “cover me” meant open fire immediately, which they did, unloading more than 200 M16 rounds into a house where the police had a tip about a possible domestic abuser. By sheer luck, nobody was hurt.