U.S. defense chief opposes deploying troops to quell protests, despite Trump threats

By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali

 

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper visits DC National Guard military officers guarding the White House amid nationwide unrest following the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Washington, U.S., June 1, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Wednesday he does not support invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty forces to quell civil unrest for now, despite President Donald Trump's threats to militarize America's response to mass protests.

 

Trump said this week he could use military forces in states that fail to crack down on sometimes violent protests over the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis.

 

"The option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now," Esper told a news briefing.

 

"I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act."

 

Esper's news conference did not go over well with either the president or his top aides, an administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

 

To deploy the military on U.S. soil for law enforcement purposes, Trump would need to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act - something last done in 1992 in response to the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles.

 

The military has pre-positioned 1,600 active duty forces on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., to deploy if needed.

 

A U.S. official said that the Army on Wednesday had been told of a decision to send some of the active duty troops back to their home base, but Esper reversed course following a meeting at the White House and discussions at the Pentagon.

 

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Wednesday that he does not support invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy active duty forces to quell civil unrest.

 

Esper said he regretted using the term "battlespace" this week to describe areas gripped by protests.

 

"In retrospect, I would use different wording so as not to distract from the more important matters at hand or allow some to suggest that we are militarizing the issue," he said.

 

Trump's threats to deploy active duty troops -- even in states that oppose its use to address civil unrest -- has stirred alarm within the U.S. military and in Congress, where a top Republican warned it could easily make troops "political pawns."

 

Esper said he was unaware that he would be part of Trump's politically charged photo opportunity on Monday, when law enforcement forcibly cleared a park outside the White House of peaceful protesters so that the president could take a picture in front of a church holding a Bible.

 

He acknowledged the difficulty of deploying the military without entering the political fray.

 

"I work very hard to keep the department out of politics, which is very hard these days as we move closer and closer to an election," Esper said.

 

Retired Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he was "sickened" to see how law enforcement -- including the National Guard -- had cleared the area and warned against over-use of the U.S. military.

 

"Our fellow citizens are not the enemy, and must never become so," Mullen wrote.

 

(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali. Additional reporting by Steve Holland. Editing by Franklin Paul, Alistair Bell, Bernadette Baum and Cynthia Osterman)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-06-04

 

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Taking bets on whether he's ousted in one week or two.

A voice of reason that will soon join the ex Trump administration list.

Ex member of the military, Jim Mattis's critique of trump...

 

“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try,” 

 

“We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.”

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/06/james-mattis-denounces-trump-protests-militarization/612640/

26 minutes ago, Thailand said:

A voice of reason that will soon join the ex Trump administration list.

Guess it's an attempt to cleanse his history: he stood up to the <....> and got fired for it.  If the US gets through this nightmare, there's going to be some sort of Nuremberg-like justice seeking.  Maybe France can loan the US a guillotine.

 

Maybe DT is as fat as Churchill was during WWII, that's the only comparison I can see, DT can't even appreciate a good cigar.  Kayleigh McEnany is such a ditz I'd feel like a bully commenting of her, it would be like throwing a kitten.

 

 

Edited June 4, 20206 yr by bendejo

Trump using the Military to quell protests,is just the kind

of thing that despot tyrants do,I feel Trump would like the

kind of power that his friends Putin and Kim have,ultimate

power of a dictator,he is slowly getting there.

regards worgeordie

Quote

something last done in 1992 in response to the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles.

 

The current riots are much worse and much more wide spread than the Rodney King riots.

 

 Over four hundred cities and towns in all fifty states were affected, riots all across the USA.

 

When does this idiot think the same response as was used in 1992 would be jusitifed? Throw him out! And send in the military already to end this orgy of vandalism and destruction.

“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try, We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort.”

 

General James Mattis

 

I can only agree with the General.

I wonder how long it will be till Esper get's his firing tweet !

2 hours ago, Thailand said:

"White House compares Trump to Churchill

The White House press secretary has likened President Donald Trump's "resilience and determination" during the #GeorgeFloyd protests to Winston Churchill inspecting bomb damage during World War Two."

 

 

????

I guess Trump is still writing the script.

Now that is some class a ass kissing lol really just pathetic beyond belief it’s good to see some of the generals speaking what we all know allready imo this esper guy is trying to salvage some of his dignity not a chance 

Sack him.

1 hour ago, worgeordie said:

Trump using the Military to quell protests,is just the kind

of thing that despot tyrants do,I feel Trump would like the

kind of power that his friends Putin and Kim have,ultimate

power of a dictator,he is slowly getting there.

regards worgeordie

Yea! you are right!  let the scum loot, kill, attack innocent people - burn churches!  why stop them?  this is not the first time this has happened remember LA riots?  what if YOU were a shop owner that was looted?  but no you sit in your arm chair and say 'let the mob rule'  unbelievable

 

restore law and order

Old news. After this article came out he has changed his mind or it was changed for him. He now supports the use of Active duty military.

A troll post removed

15 minutes ago, pmarlin said:

Old news. After this article came out he has changed his mind or it was changed for him. He now supports the use of Active duty military.

Well, the only reason he could have gotten a cabinet position that late in the Trump "presidency" was if he is completely spineless and unprincipled so this comes as no surprise.

 

PS. When making claims like this it generally helps its credibility to add a link to a corroborating source.

Edited June 4, 20206 yr by Phoenix Rising

46 minutes ago, Phoenix Rising said:

Well, the only reason he could have gotten a cabinet position that late in the Trump "presidency" was if he is completely spineless and unprincipled so this comes as no surprise.

Exactly.  It was no secret what level of bootlicking was expected of him.  I guess everyone wants a cabinet position on their resume, and has that infamous "mine's different" confidence.  Speaking of which, there's already chatter about Pompeo 2024 -- will those brown stains on his face be his ticket to the WH?

 

It's reassuring to hear the military folks come out with this stuff, a lot of us are wondering exactly what action will be taken when DT refuses to leave (given that he doesn't die in office). 

 

And then there is this cockamamie religion thing even Brietbart seems to be distancing from

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/06/03/president-trump-religious-freedom-is-a-national-security-imperative/

 

 

Edited June 4, 20206 yr by bendejo

1 hour ago, Phoenix Rising said:

Well, the only reason he could have gotten a cabinet position that late in the Trump "presidency" was if he is completely spineless and unprincipled so this comes as no surprise.

 

PS. When making claims like this it generally helps its credibility to add a link to a corroborating source.

Agree, and I did not trust the poster, so checked for myself.

 

Yes, he did reverse his position, https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/03/mark-esper-military-deployment-protests-298314. From the article:

Quote

The White House meeting and Esper's reversal suggests the president or his aides pressured Esper to keep troops in the region after he told reporters in no uncertain terms that he opposed the use of active-duty troops as law enforcement right now.

 

After using the "Sgt. Shultz" defense for his participation in Monday's Photo-Op, Esper rejected the final sip of the Kool-Aid and grew a pair.

 

Once trump realizes he can't fire Mattis, he''' get rid of Esper.

 

Rumblings that tom cotton may become "Acting" SecDef.

 

The walls are closing in on trump, hopefully he will resign.

 

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Logosone said:

 

The current riots are much worse and much more wide spread than the Rodney King riots.

 

 Over four hundred cities and towns in all fifty states were affected, riots all across the USA.

 

When does this idiot think the same response as was used in 1992 would be jusitifed? Throw him out! And send in the military already to end this orgy of vandalism and destruction.

Restore law and order.

And that with the military and live ammunition?

Has it ever occurred to you that the military is not trained for anti-riot operations?

How do you think that should work?

Do you want to shoot selectively

demonstrators throwing stones with final death Shots or better fire into the crowd with a machine gun?

What would the specific command for the military units be?

Please explain this to us in more detail.

 

What I miss about the Trump Lemmings is the love for details. Thinking through a problem in a really solution-oriented way. But unfortunately there are only one liner slogans: "send the army." Uh uh uh.

 

The fact here is that there is a danger that the whole thing can develop into a civil war. It only takes a few dead on both sides.

Edited June 4, 20206 yr by tomacht8

8 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

After using the "Sgt. Shultz" defense for his participation in Monday's Photo-Op, Esper rejected the final sip of the Kool-Aid and grew a pair.

 

Once trump realizes he can't fire Mattis, he''' get rid of Esper.

 

Rumblings that tom cotton may become "Acting" SecDef.

 

The walls are closing in on trump, hopefully he will resign.

 

 

 

 

There will be a lot of ‘acting acting’s’ in this government. 

3 hours ago, Logosone said:

 

The current riots are much worse and much more wide spread than the Rodney King riots.

 

 Over four hundred cities and towns in all fifty states were affected, riots all across the USA.

 

When does this idiot think the same response as was used in 1992 would be jusitifed? Throw him out! And send in the military already to end this orgy of vandalism and destruction.

MIKE MULLEN is a retired admiral from the U.S. Navy and was the 17th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "Too many foreign and domestic policy choices have become militarized; too many military missions have become politicized.This is not the time for stunts. This is the time for leadership. "

6 hours ago, webfact said:

"I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act."

you better start to look for a new job... remember the words "you are fired"

6 hours ago, J Town said:

Taking bets on whether he's ousted in one week or two.

he will not finish this week and will make the news by Saturday

1 minute ago, Mavideol said:

he will not finish this week and will make the news by Saturday

They'll announce it Friday afternoon, commonly known as "taking out the trash."

The vast majority of those exercising the rights granted them in the very first Amendment of the US Constitution, so important to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison they put "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" before any other rights, have been peaceful.

 

Some people have behaved badly, but those people did not include anyone in Layfayette Park on 1 June when 45 had them gassed, flashbanged and shot with rubber bullets so he could engage in a photo-op.

 

Now, as it turns out, many of those both fomenting and engaging in acts of violence are white supremacist groups and far-right groups, such as Proud Boys, Boogaloo Boys, and the 3 Percenters.

 

The FBI stated on Tuesday that they found no evidence of "Antifa" in the violent protests, but did find that various far right terror groups were engaged in violent behavior and were fomenting violence in online chat rooms and social media platforms. They identified members of white supremacist groups masquerading as "Antifa" on social media. Twitter also found this and suspended the fake accounts.

 

LE in Portland arrested three "Proud Boys" members who had dressed an black (trying to mimic Antifa) and had engaged in malicious destruction of shops and businesses while peaceful protests were happening around them.

 

The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Las Vegas PD announce charges against 3 alleged members of the right-wing extremist group "Boogaloo" with violating state & federal laws, "for conspiracy to cause destruction during protests in Las Vegas".

 

Interesting that despite no FBI evidence of any violence by so-called "Antifa", AG barr named Antifa a 'domestic terror group' on Monday. He has yet to announce the same designation to Proud Boys, Boogaloo Boys or the 3 Percenters.

 

Both the FBI and the Dept of Homeland Security have released reports saying that over 70% of all domestic terror attacks since 9-11 have been carried out by white supremacist groups.  Still, the AG has yet to designate any of these groups as 'domestic terror groups'.

 

Now, in the cities of the United States, armed troops, claiming to only be "Dept of Justice" are fighting with and arresting peaceful protesters. These troops are wearing no insignia and no name tags, making them essentially 'secret police' and violating US law. These individually and unit unidentified armed troops even attacked members of the press, including some from Australian TV.

Edited June 4, 20206 yr by Walker88
grammar

5 hours ago, simple1 said:

Ex member of the military, Jim Mattis's critique of trump...

 

“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try,” 

 

“We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.”

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/06/james-mattis-denounces-trump-protests-militarization/612640/

Maybe they should get behind Trump and show some unity themselves ?

Many people disagree with everything Trump does or says and now the same people are blaming Trump for causing the divisions

 

 

8 minutes ago, Walker88 said:

The vast majority of those exercising the rights granted them in the very first Amendment of the US Constitution, so important to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison they put "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" before any other rights, have been peaceful.

 

Some people have behaved badly, but those people did not include anyone in Layfayette Park on 1 June when 45 had them gassed, flashbanged and shot with rubber bullets so he could engage in a photo-op.

 

Now, as it turns out, many of those both fomenting and engaging in acts of violence are white supremacist groups and far-right groups, such as Proud Boys, Boogaloo Boys, and the 3 Percenters.

 

The FBI stated on Tuesday that they found no evidence of "Antifa" in the violent protests, but did find that various far right terror groups were engaged in violent behavior and were fomenting violence in online chat rooms and social media platforms. They identified members of white supremacist groups masquerading as "Antifa" on social media. Twitter also found this and suspended the fake accounts.

 

LE in Portland arrested three "Proud Boys" members who had dressed an black (trying to mimic Antifa) and had engaged in malicious destruction of shops and businesses while peaceful protests were happening around them.

 

The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Las Vegas PD announce charges against 3 alleged members of the right-wing extremist group "Boogaloo" with violating state & federal laws, "for conspiracy to cause destruction during protests in Las Vegas".

 

Interesting that despite no FBI evidence of any violence by so-called "Antifa", AG barr named Antifa a 'domestic terror group' on Monday. He has yet to announce the same designation to Proud Boys, Boogaloo Boys or the 3 Percenters.

 

Both the FBI and the Dept of Homeland Security have released reports saying that over 70% of all domestic terror attacks since 9-11 have been carried out by white supremacist groups.  Still, the AG has yet to designate any of these groups as 'domestic terror groups'.

 

Now, in the cities of the United States, armed troops, claiming to only be "Dept of Justice" are fighting with and arresting peaceful protesters. These troops are wearing no insignia and no name tags, making them essentially 'secret police' and violating US law. These individually and unit unidentified armed troops even attacked members of the press, including some from Australian TV.

The Free Press has determined that the unidentified-by-markings-insignia-or-name armed troops on the streets of Washington, DC are Utah State National Guard and Texas Bureau of Prisons employees.

 

Incidentally, it is a violation of the Geneva Convention for armed troops not to wear governmental and unit insignia.

4 hours ago, Logosone said:

send in the military already to end this orgy of vandalism and destruction.

I think you meant to type 'escalate' not 'end'. That would make more sense, at least.

18 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

Maybe they should get behind Trump and show some unity themselves ?

Many people disagree with everything Trump does or says and now the same people are blaming Trump for causing the divisions

 

 

I don't know if you ever served any nation, so allow me to tell you politely that those of us who took an oath took it not to a person, but to the US Constitution and to the nation.  At no time is any serving person at any level of government required to follow an illegal or immoral order.

 

Using gas, flashbangs and rubber bullets against those peacefully exercising First Amendment rights is illegal, and no one who took the oath needs to follow such an order, even if it comes from 45 directly.

 

Gen Mattis, along with former Joint Chief head Gen Mullen, former DirNSA and DCI Gen Hayden, Gen McCaffrey, former DEVGRU Chief Adm McRaven, and former JSOC Commander Gen McCrystal all know this and all have spoken out against the illegal and wrongful use of force against peaceful US citizens.

Edited June 4, 20206 yr by Walker88

4 hours ago, Logosone said:

 

The current riots are much worse and much more wide spread than the Rodney King riots.

 

 Over four hundred cities and towns in all fifty states were affected, riots all across the USA.

 

When does this idiot think the same response as was used in 1992 would be jusitifed? Throw him out! And send in the military already to end this orgy of vandalism and destruction.

Okay...let's be generous here and say, that there are 5 buildings being burned and 10 stores have been looted in all of the 400 cities!

That would be a total of 6000 houses and stores ALL OVER AMERICA!

...and that is bad!

But it is really no "orgy of vandalism and destruction"!