(06-01-2020, 09:58 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/6/1/21277530/trump-speech-police-violence-dc-tear-gas?fbclid=IwAR3jzY-M3qP7IMR35loPWxQOeSeMDPOhJTkVBLoE6OAIjDEsrTs5suqmYjQ

Seemingly without reason, federal police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at peaceful protestors on H Street and then used mounted police to herd them away. Soon after, Trump made his way to a nearby church to give an authoritarian speech in which he called for some possibly illegal actions, including using the military to combat unrest.

(06-01-2020, 10:22 PM)GMDino Wrote: Any of our military members here ready to be swiftly deployed to the US to fight US citizens who are protesting?

BREAKING: "If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them," Pres. Trump threatens. https://t.co/n0fWIF4N9X pic.twitter.com/TuhuCaadJE

— ABC News (@ABC) June 1, 2020

 


I'm just asking.

(06-01-2020, 10:26 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Hell, I'm retired but if asked; I'll help to safeguard Americans and their livelihoods against those who seek to endanger it be the enemy foreign or domestic. 

Quote:WASHINGTON — As sirens wailed and flash-bang grenades popped across the street, President Donald Trump announced from the Rose Garden that he would use the U.S. military to stop the riots across the country that have been sparked by the death of George Floyd.


"I am mobilizing all available federal resources, civilian and military, to stop the rioting and looting, to end the destruction and arson, and to protect the rights of law-abiding Americans, including your Second Amendment rights," Trump said in the extraordinary address, which was delivered as police fired smoke devices outside to push protesters back from the White House.

"We are ending the riots and lawlessness that has spread throughout our country. We will end it now," Trump said.


"If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them," Trump said, referring to himself as "your president of law and order and an ally of all peaceful protesters.”


He said he was already dispatching "thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel, and law enforcement officers" to Washington to stop the violence that has been a feature of the protests here.
Shortly before he started to speak — about 20 minutes before Washington's 7 p.m. ET curfew — the police and National Guard had started using smoke and flash bangs to push away the large crowd of peaceful protesters outside.


It soon became clear why the authorities had forcibly cleared Lafayette Square and its surrounding streets of peaceful protesters. Concluding his remarks, Trump said he was going to "pay my respects to a very, very special place." Then, surrounded by many of his West Wing aides, he walked across the street that had been cleared in order to stand outside St. John's Episcopal Church, which suffered fire damage in protests Sunday night.


Trump held up a Bible outside the church and posed for pictures, then returned to the White House. He did not go in the church or express any religious sentiments there.


[/url]

Trump stands in front of St. John's Church holding Bible after threatening military action against protesters
JUNE 1, 202002:25

[url=https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Trump%20stands%20in%20front%20of%20St.%20John%27s%20Church%20holding%20Bible%20after%20threatening%20military%20action%20against%20protesters&via=nbcnews&url=https://www.nbcnews.com/video/trump-stands-in-front-of-st-john-s-church-holding-bible-after-threatening-military-action-against-protesters-84206661837&original_referer=https://www.nbcnews.com/video/trump-stands-in-front-of-st-john-s-church-holding-bible-after-threatening-military-action-against-protesters-84206661837]
The Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington who oversees the church, told the Washington Post she found out about the visit when it shown on television, and was "outraged" by what she saw.


She said she "was not given even a courtesy call that they would be clearing [the square] with tear gas so they could use one of our churches as a prop, holding a Bible, one that declares that God is love and when everything he has said and done is to enflame violence."


Democrats blasted the move as well.


"The desire for a certain backdrop for a press announcement is not a security requirement," tweeted Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. "In other words, using the power of the U.S. Military to clear out peaceful protestors for a presser is a massive abuse of power. "


Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., was more succinct. "Donald Trump just tear-gassed peaceful protesters for a photo op," she tweeted.


Asked if the area was cleared to accommodate Trump’s visit to the outside of the church, White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere said, “The perimeter was expanded to help enforce the 7 p.m. curfew in the same area where rioters attempted to burn down one of our nation’s most historic churches the night before. Protesters were given three warnings by the U.S. Park Police.”


To activate the military to operate in the U.S., Trump would have to invoke the 213-year-old Insurrection Act, which four people familiar with the decision had told NBC News he planned to do.


The military police forces would come from Fort Bragg in North Carolina and possibly Fort Belvoir in Virginia and could arrive in Washington within hours, these people said.
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The chair of the House Service Committee, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., urged Trump to reverse course.


“The domestic deployment of our armed services is an incredibly serious undertaking that should not be taken lightly," Smith said. "We live in a democracy, not a dictatorship," he added, urging Trump to use the powers of the presidency "to calm tensions across the country, not escalate them."


Trump’s decision on whether to invoke the act, adopted in 1807, to deploy troops has come as his frustrations mount over the protests that have followed the death of Floyd, a black man who was killed in police custody last week in Minneapolis. The people familiar with his decision said Trump was angry Sunday night at the destruction some protestors caused in Washington, particularly the vandalization of national monuments.


Some of the president’s aides have been encouraging him for days to invoke the act, as he weighed options for exercising executive powers to address the crisis. The act was last invoked during the 1992 Rodney King riots in Los Angeles.


Trump's remarks came hours after he urged the nation’s governors to get “tough” with unruly demonstrators. “Most of you are weak,” he told them, according to audio of the call obtained by NBC News. "You have to dominate. If you don't dominate, you're wasting your time, they're gonna run over you, you're gonna look like a bunch of jerks,” the president said.


At a briefing with reporters Monday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany had left open the possibility that the president could invoke the act.


“The Insurrection Act, it’s one of the tools available, whether the president decides to pursue that, that’s his prerogative,“ McEnany said.


Governors can ask that the federal government send active duty troops to help in cases of civil unrest like the widespread protests plaguing U.S. cities over the last several days. But, so far, no governor has requested active duty troops to assist and instead they have relied on local law enforcement and National Guard soldiers and airmen on state active duty.


Governors often prefer the National Guard forces in these cases because they can legally perform law enforcement duties in the U.S., whereas troops on active duty cannot without violating the Posse Comitatus Act, a 1878 law that prohibits the government from using military forces to act as a police force within U.S. borders.
But the president could invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty troops without a request from a governor. Those troops would be allowed to conduct law enforcement missions. To invoke the act, Trump would first have to issue a proclamation to “immediately order the insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their abodes within a limited time,” according to the law.


In the past the Justice Department has drafted such proclamations. And according to the Congressional Research Service, the act has been invoked many times throughout U.S. history, although rarely since the 1960s civil rights era.


When it was invoked in 1992 during the Los Angeles riots, the move was requested by then-California Gov. Pete Wilson, not invoked solely by President George H.W. Bush. Trump’s attorney general, Bill Barr, was Bush's attorney general the last time the act was invoked and he led the Justice Department’s response to the King beating.


The Defense Department declined to comment on the possibility that the president could invoke the act.


One of Trump’s allies outside the White House, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., urged Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act “if necessary” so U.S. troops can “support our local law enforcement and ensure that this violence ends tonight.”

(06-01-2020, 10:27 PM)GMDino Wrote: There's one willing to shoot fellow citizens for protesting.

At least you're consistent.  

Quote:Barr: Law enforcement must ‘dominate’ streets amid protests
By MICHAEL BALSAMO55 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials vowed to “maximize federal law enforcement presence” in the nation’s capital Monday night after days of violent demonstrations led to fires across Washington and left scores of businesses with broken windows and dozens of police officers injured.

In a call with governors, President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr also encouraged more aggressive action against those who cause violence during protests across the country following the killing of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis policeman pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after Floyd stopped moving and pleading for air. The demonstrations have turned violent in several cities, with fires ignited in Lafayette Park across from the White House.

The comments from Trump, Barr and other federal officials appeared aimed at avoiding similar scenes Monday night, when protesters were expected to gather again. But there were also questions about whether using more aggressive law enforcement measures against demonstrators protesting police brutality would only increase tensions.

MORE ON THE PROTESTS:

• – Trump threatens military force against protesters nationwide
• – Use of force criticized in protests about police brutality
• – Deadly police raid fuels call to end 'no knock' warrants
  

Barr told the state leaders that law enforcement officials must “have adequate force” and “go after troublemakers.”


“Law enforcement response is not going to work unless we dominate the streets,” Barr said.

Trump said he was “taking immediate presidential action to stop the violence and restore security and safety in America.”
The president urged governors to deploy the National Guard, which he credited with helping calm the situation Sunday night in Minneapolis, and demanded that similarly tough measures be taken in cities that also experienced spasms of violence, including New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

“Mayors and governors must establish an overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled,” Trump said. “If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.”

Minutes before Trump spoke Monday evening in the Rose Garden of the White House, police and members of the National Guard took aggressive action, using tear gas and flash bangs, to move back peaceful protesters who were outside Lafayette Park, across from the White House.

Between the protests and the response to the coronavirus pandemic, the National Guard has been deployed at its highest level in recent history, surpassing the number of troops sent to the Gulf Coast during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. More than 66,700 soldiers and airman have been activated — 45,000 to assist with the pandemic and more than 17,000 to help with the protests.
Other law enforcement resources are also being mobilized.

Trump directed Barr to “lead federal law enforcement efforts to assist in the restoration of order to the District of Columbia,” Justice Department spokesperson Kerri Kupec said.

The Justice Department deployed the U.S. Marshals Service and agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration to supplement National Guard troops in Washington on Sunday. By midnight, Barr had ordered the FBI to deploy its Hostage Rescue Team, an elite tactical unit, to the streets of the nation’s capital, a senior Justice Department official said.

Barr has also directed the federal Bureau of Prisons to send teams of prison riot officers to patrol the streets in Miami and Washington, said the official, who could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Full Coverage: America Protests


The U.S. Park Police and Secret Service have had dozens of officers out in riot gear in Washington for the last few nights, in addition to the Metropolitan Police Department. U.S. Customs and Border Protection was also sending officers, agents and aircraft around the country to assist other law enforcement agencies “confronting the lawless actions of rioters,” the agency said. The officers were being deployed in several states, though the official declined to provide specific details, citing security concerns.


Several major cities have enacted curfews, and District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser set a 7 p.m. curfew for Monday and Tuesday. Violent demonstrators ignored the 11 p.m. curfew the night before as they set buildings and trash cans on fire and broke into stores to steal items from the shelves.


Most of the protesters have been peaceful and tried to discourage violence. Trump, Barr and others have tried to blame some of the civil unrest on left-wing extremist groups, including antifa, and other “anarchists.” Short for anti-fascists, antifa is an umbrella term for far-left-leaning militant groups that resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations.


The FBI is using its network of regional joint terrorism task forces to “identify criminal organizers,” and federal prosecutors across the country have been instructed to share information and utilize federal riot, arson or terror statutes against any “violent radical agitators” who attempt to hijack protests to cause destruction.


The Justice Department has vowed to treat the “violence instigated and carried out by antifa & other similar groups” as domestic terrorism. Although there isn’t a specific federal domestic terrorism statute, prosecutors could charge other offenses and seek enhanced sentencing.


The FBI has already started questioning rioters who were arrested in several cities to determine whether they committed any federal crimes, the senior Justice Department official said. It is a federal crime to cross state lines to participate in violent riots.


Between 600 and 800 National Guard members from five states — Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Utah — are being sent to D.C. to provide assistance, senior Defense Department officials said. Those troops are either already on the ground or will arrive by midnight.


In addition, officials said there are already some active-duty forces in the area, but they are not in D.C. They are prepared to respond, but the officials said they are hopeful those troops will not be needed. If they are sent in, they are not expected to be conducting any law enforcement. The officials declined to say how many active-duty troops are in the region now.

The officials said some of the National Guard in D.C. will be armed and others will not. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing military deployments.

(06-01-2020, 04:30 PM)Nately120 Wrote: I'm not here to say what is OK and what isn't OK, so much as postulate that some people may be using the term THUG as a nudge and wink "I said it, but I technically didn't say it" alternative or work-around to ye old n-bomb.  

My main point is that I've seen and heard enough from Trump to not give him the benefit of the doubt on this one, that's all.  Again, the fact that he quoted proud ultra-racist, George Wallace, within spitting distance of THUG (capitalized to show emphasis and disgust) doesn't help his cause, either.

(06-01-2020, 10:34 PM)GMDino Wrote: https://apnews.com/47135c2d08f7fddef0ddda9d321ba2ea

“Mayors and governors must establish an overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled,” Trump said. “If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.”

(05-31-2020, 05:09 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: I didn't know they arrested all the cops on the scene.

I appreciate your POV. I posted in another thread (can't recall which one at the moment) that I think the police need more attention. This thing shouldn't have happened. But I also realize these guys see some crazy stuff on a daily basis and a cop is usually the first on the scene for everything. Rather it be an accident, fire, etc. I don't think we give enough funds to properly make sure these guys are taken care of emotionally. I wouldn't doubt there are several walking around doing their jobs while suffering from PTSD. 

I am not excusing the actions of the office who killed Floyd by any means. I just think we really need to step back and figure out why we are facing what we are today? There is a much bigger discussion to be had than this incident ( I use that word incident uncomfortably because it's more serious than that). As a nation, we have a lot of work to do and IMO it's not going to happen because the violence is overshadowing the topic which should be dealt with first. That's probably not going to happen now because we will focus our attention on how better to prevent or minimize damage in future riots than we will spending on the actual problem at hand. Before we get there, something else will happen and shift focus. When this happens, George Floyd dies until the next time something horrible happens like this. Then it will be rinse and repeat. So sad.

(06-01-2020, 10:27 PM)GMDino Wrote: There's one willing to shoot fellow citizens for protesting.

At least you're consistent.  

(06-01-2020, 09:41 PM)GMDino Wrote:

Louisville's mayor just fired the police chief after learning that officers did not record body-camera footage of the fatal overnight shooting of David McAtee https://t.co/iTv6FY4uy9

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) June 1, 2020

 

(06-01-2020, 10:30 PM)GMDino Wrote: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-considering-move-invoke-insurrection-act-n1221326

The Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington who oversees the church, told the Washington Post she found out about the visit when it shown on television, and was "outraged" by what she saw.


She said she "was not given even a courtesy call that they would be clearing [the square] with tear gas so they could use one of our churches as a prop, holding a Bible, one that declares that God is love and when everything he has said and done is to enflame violence."...

"The desire for a certain backdrop for a press announcement is not a security requirement," tweeted Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. "In other words, using the power of the U.S. Military to clear out peaceful protestors for a presser is a massive abuse of power. "

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., was more succinct. "Donald Trump just tear-gassed peaceful protesters for a photo op," she tweeted.

(06-02-2020, 08:51 AM)Dill Wrote: Just curious.

Can anyone think of a past example of a president doing something like this--gassing peaceful protestors for a photo op?

This set me to wondering how many Americans remain who can see an abuse of power here.  At all?

(06-02-2020, 09:25 AM)GMDino Wrote: I suppose I'd feel "better" about all this if the police leaders were targeting looters and rioters and not peaceful protesters and the media.

(06-02-2020, 09:31 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: I think the video of police firing rubber bullets at people standing on their own ***** porch may have pushed me over the edge a little bit.