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solarbirdContact your representatives and senators and ask them what they're going to do about this.
Contact your governor and ask what your state will do to resist this, and what the plan is if the military fails to refuse an illegal order to send US troops against American citizens.
Now.
- Trump says he will deploy military if state officials can't contain protest violence
- Trump statement saying he'll send in US troops across the US
- DOD's Esper: must "dominate the battlespace," referring to protests.
- Twitter restricts tweet from Gaetz for glorifying violence
- President Trump unloads on the nation's governors on a call
- ‘Send in the troops’: Republican Marsha Blackburn wants the military to crush civil rights protests
- Tom Cotton: "let's see how tough these Antifa terrorists are when they're facing off with the 101st Airborne Division"
- Republicans need to reaffirm their commitment to republicanism over the use of force.
- Park Police, MPs, DC national guard violent sweep peaceful protestors from street
- Video: Australian news crew violently attacked by police while live on TV.
- Video: DC police attacking news videographer live on TV
- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs assessing the military presence.
- How posse comitatus works, and why the Insurrection Act doesn't apply here.
- Trump calls governors facing unrest 'weak' and 'fools,' urges stronger police tactics [EDITOR: Note, this is BEFORE the troop declaration]
- Inslee rebukes Trump for calling governors ‘weak’ in not cracking down harder on protests over death of George Floyd
- The most chilling aspect of Trump’s Monday night crackdown on law-abiding protesters
----- 1 -----
Trump says he will deploy military if state officials can't contain protest violence
The president said he was an "ally of all peaceful protesters" as police and the National Guard forced protesters away from the White House.
June 1, 2020, 1:27 PM PDT / Updated June 1, 2020, 6:25 PM PDT
By Dareh Gregorian, Courtney Kube and Carol E. Lee
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-considering-move-invoke-insurrection-act-n1221326
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.
----- 2 -----
kirk acevedo
kirkacevedo1 June 2020
https://twitter.com/kirkacevedo/status/1267595950178004992
MARTIAL LAW!
The United State has now become an authoritarian state!
WE MUST MARCH....
EVERYONE MUST MARCH
FOR OUR FREEDOM!
[EMBEDDED VIDEO FROM TRUMP STATEMENT]
----- 3 -----
Missy Ryan
twitter.com/missy_ryan
1 June 2020
https://twitter.com/missy_ryan/status/1267534977165557760
DOD's Esper during WH call with governors: "I think the sooner that you mass and dominate the battlespace, the quicker this dissipates and we can get back to the right normal."
----- 4 -----
Twitter restricts tweet from Gaetz for glorifying violence
By Justine Coleman - 06/01/20
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/500585-twitter-restricts-tweet-from-gaetz-for-glorifying-violence
Twitter has restricted a Monday tweet from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), saying it glorifies violence, a move that comes after also cracking down on some of President Trump's tweets last week.
The Florida lawmaker and vocal Trump ally tweeted in response to Trump’s Sunday announcement on Twitter that anti-facist activists, or antifa, would be formally designated as a terrorist organization.
“Now that we clearly see Antifa as terrorists, can we hunt them down like we do those in the Middle East?” Gaetz posted.
----- 5 -----
Ed O'Keefe
twitter.com/edokeefe
1 June 2020
https://twitter.com/edokeefe/status/1267478663949357057
[THREAD, COLLECTED]
JUST IN: President Trump unloads on the nation's governors on a call, calls on them to step up enforcement: "You have to dominate, if you don’t dominate you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate."
In audio obtained by twitter.com/CBSNews, Trump tells governors: "Washington was under very good control, but we’re going to have it under much more control. We’re going to pull in thousands of people." (more)
MORE: Trump tells governors: "You’ve got to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you’ll never see this stuff again," per audio obtained by
cbsnewsOne person listening in on the call describes the president's words and tone as "unhinged."
On the call, Trump references Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Milley and Attorney General Bill Barr. "We will activate Bill Barr and activate him very strongly," Trump says.
MORE: Trump tells governors later: "You’re making a mistake because you're making yourselves look like fools. And some have done a great job. But a lot of you, it’s not – it’s not a great day for our country."
TRUMP ADDS: "You know when other countries watch this, they’re watching this, the next day wow, they’re really a push over. And we can’t be a push over. And we have all the resources – it’s not like we don’t have the resources. So, I don’t know what you’re doing."
----- 6 -----
‘Send in the troops’: Republican Marsha Blackburn wants the military to crush civil rights protests
June 1, 2020
By Matthew Chapman
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/06/send-in-the-troops-republican-marsha-blackburn-wants-the-military-to-crush-civil-rights-protests/
On Monday, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) demanded on Twitter that the government “send in the troops” if the “big city mayors can’t restore order.”
Blackburn’s comment comes hours after Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) suggested invoking the Insurrection Act to send the military into U.S. cities, and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) called for hunting down “Antifa” protesters like “those in the Middle East.
----- 7 -----
Tom Cotton
twitter.com/TomCottonAR
1 June 2020
https://twitter.com/TomCottonAR/status/1267448171636174848
Anarchy, rioting, and looting needs to end tonight.
If local law enforcement is overwhelmed and needs backup, let's see how tough these Antifa terrorists are when they're facing off with the 101st Airborne Division.
We need to have zero tolerance for this destruction.
----- 8 -----
Robert E Kelly
twitter.com/Robert_E_Kelly
1 June 2020
https://twitter.com/Robert_E_Kelly/status/1267641307737931782
Republicans need to reaffirm their commitment to republicanism over the use of force.
Consider in the last few weeks:
1. Trump, SecDef Esper, Senator Cotton, (absurdly) influential Fox News hosts,and various Republican office-holders have endorsed a military intervention in /1
[NEXT]
American cities. Even if that can be legally squared with legislation like the Insurrection and Posse Comitatus Acts, it is OBVIOUSLY grossly inappropriate to use the military domestically against fellow citizens in a liberal democracy. The US is not China or Egypt,nor a Trump /2
[NEXT]
family banana republic (yet). That this must be discussed at all shows how much Trump has corroded the commitment to deliberative democracy among his voters.
2. Police, a right-leaning constituency, have responded so harshly so ubiquitously across the country that it is fair /3
[CONTINUES AT LINK]
----- 9 -----
Andrew Lawrence
twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence
1 June 2020
https://twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence/status/1267588006426357761
no words
[EMBEDDED VIDEO of mounted police sweeping streets of entirely peaceful protest, with flashbang grenades, etc. Including mounted police and national guard.]
----- 10 -----
The Up2Dater
uptodatenewz1 June 2020
https://twitter.com/UptoDateNewz/status/1267597024096137217
[EDITOR'S NOTE: I AM NOT VOUCHING FOR THIS ACCOUNT. But the video is legit.]
Video shows an Australian news crew getting hit while live on TV. #WashingtonDCProtest #DCProtests #protests2020 #Riot2020
----- 11 -----
Scott Thuman
twitter.com/ScottThuman
1 June 2020
https://twitter.com/ScottThuman/status/1267599965309763584
SHOCKING: to see members of the media also taking direct, *intentional* punches and swings from police as they cleared the streets of protesters outside the White House. #protest #Washington #WashingtonDCProtest #PictureOfTheDay
[EMBEDDED VIDEO: DC police repeatedly strike videographer, camera]
----- 12 -----
Tim Barber
twitter.com/ABC7TimBarber
1 June 2020
https://twitter.com/ABC7TimBarber/status/1267626305111175170
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs assessing the military presence [In Washington, DC].
[EMBEDDED VIDEO]
----- 13 -----
Actually malicious, no actual malice
twitter.com/apark2453
1 July 2020
https://twitter.com/apark2453/status/1267495699731496963
Since our own Senators don't know how posse comitatus works, let's do a quick explanation.
Note: while technically the Posse Comitatus act which was last updated in 1981 does not include the Marines or Navy, 10 U.S.C. § 275 does basically the same thing.
1/
[THREAD AT TWEET]
----- 14 -----
Trump calls governors facing unrest 'weak' and 'fools,' urges stronger police tactics
"You have to dominate. If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time,” the president said, according to a person listening to a White House call with the nation's governors.
1 June 2020
By Geoff Bennett, Shannon Pettypiece and Monica Alba
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-calls-governors-facing-unrest-weak-fools-urges-stronger-police-n1221116
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday lashed out at governors during a White House videoconference, telling them that “most of you are weak” after states grappled with another night of anger and unrest following the killing of George Floyd last week.
In audio of the call obtained by NBC News, Trump berated governors for their response to the protests, repeatedly criticizing New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, and urged law enforcement to crack down and make more arrests.
"You have to arrest people, you have to try people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you'll never see this stuff again," Trump said on the call.
Trump called the governors "fools" and expressed anger with Democratic mayors in particular over the protests and unrest ravaging cities nationwide. He was described by one person on the call as “losing it.”
----- 15 -----
Inslee rebukes Trump for calling governors ‘weak’ in not cracking down harder on protests over death of George Floyd
By Joseph O’Sullivan
June 1, 2020
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/inslee-to-address-weekend-protests-across-washington-over-the-death-of-george-floyd/
OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee on Monday rebuked President Donald Trump after the president suggested governors were “weak” for not cracking down harder on protests over the death of George Floyd and threatened to send in the military to squelch demonstrations.
Inslee’s remarks came as Seattle and other cities again braced for more demonstrations, and as Trump in a news conference Monday afternoon threatened to deploy armed forces to the states.
“His admiration of authoritarians around the world should not allow him to violate 200 years of American tradition of local law enforcement,” Inslee said in a statement. “We have activated the National Guard in our state and made them available to any community who requests it.”
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and City Attorney Pete Holmes called Trump’s threat illegal.
“Even if this wasn’t blatantly illegal, does Trump actually want the nation to burn? Our city will fight any steps to use the military against the American people,” Holmes said.
Durkan called Trump’s threat a “shocking lack of understanding about the use and work of our U.S. military,” citing the Posse Comitatus Act.
----- 16 -----
The most chilling aspect of Trump’s Monday night crackdown on law-abiding protesters
There was no need to do this before 7 — but Trump gave cops a test, and they passed.
By Matthew Yglesias
Jun 1, 2020
https://www.vox.com/2020/6/1/21277610/monday-lafayette-square-tear-gas
Monday evening’s images of peaceful protesters in Washington, DC’s Lafayette Square being attacked and gassed by federal law enforcement officers were chilling.
Reflecting on them, what’s even more alarming is the context. The officers began their assault just after 6:30 pm — less than half an hour before a 7 pm curfew that had already been ordered by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser was set to take effect. Legally speaking, the crowd should have dispersed then and there would have been no problem with the president strolling across the park to do his photo op at St John’s Church. Realistically, the odds are good that the crowd would not have dispersed. But starting at 7 pm, a group of officers forcibly expelling protesters from the park would have been enforcing the law.
Doing it at 6:36 pm or so served no real purpose except to make the law enforcement action flagrantly abusive. And that itself sends a powerful message.
Trump is frequently testing people
One of the most telling moments of the Trump administration was its very first controversy — White House press secretary Sean Spicer going out in front of the cameras to blatantly lie about the relative size of the crowds at the Trump inauguration and the Obama inauguration.
The lie was absurd — the facts were plain to see in photographs. It was also an absurd thing to be so sensitive about. It’s no secret that Washington, DC, and its suburbs are heavily Democratic areas and thus a Democratic president would be far more likely to get a stronger turnout. Trump could likely draw a bigger crowd than Obama in the Texas Panhandle; it’s just one of those things.
The lie was not persuasive nor intended to persuade, nor was it about anything important. The significance of it was simply in the fact that it happened. Spicer was asked to humiliate himself on Trump’s behalf, to violate the rules of polite society and being a decent spokesperson because Trump wanted him to. And so he did.
Trump’s politics are full of these little dominance rituals. To verbalize agreement with Trump because you genuinely agree with what he says proves nothing — it’s willingness to say things that neither you nor anyone else believes that truly proves your devotion.
Monday night’s use of force was similar in structure but more alarming in practice. Would law enforcement officials fire tear gas at an unarmed crowd that wasn’t breaking the rules? That federal agents were deployed instead of DC police officers is perhaps a sign that there were some doubts. Regardless, one can never know for sure what kind of orders will be followed until they are given. A 7:01 pm dispersal wouldn’t prove anything, whereas a 6:36 pm dispersal proved a great deal.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-03 06:23 am (UTC)I was actually kind of surprised it wasn't all Republican governors. I didn't look up absolutely everyone's party, but it seems like a fairly even mix.