Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Trump threatens sending “active duty” U.S. military to Minnesota to stamp out uprising
https://consortiumnews.com/2020/05/31/trump-threatens-to-grab-protestors-by-the-posse/
Trump Threatens to Grab Protesters By the Posse
May 31, 2020
Donald Trump has threatened to unleash “the unlimited power of our Military” to quell the Minnesota uprising, using the U.S. army to essentially “invade” a state without a governor’s consent, writes Joe Lauria.
By Joe Lauria
Special to Consortium News
President Donald Trump has threatened to send “active duty” U.S. military to Minnesota to quell the uprising against the police killing of yet another unarmed African-American even though the state’s governor had not accepted Trump’s offer.
The president made his intention known in a series of tweets on Friday:
Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump
· May 28, 2020
I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right.....
Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump
....These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!
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11:53 PM - May 28, 2020
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Trump said “we will assume control,” clearly meaning the federal government. The National Guard of each state is controlled by the state governor.
The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration has offered “the use of active-duty soldiers and intelligence,” including “some forces who were put on alert to deploy.”
The New York Times and other media said “military police” were being prepared by the Pentagon and that it would be the first deployment of MPs since the Rodney King uprisings in Los Angeles of 1992.
Trump’s threats to deploy federal troops raise the legal question of whether the U.S. federal army can be deployed on U.S. soil for law enforcement purposes.
Occupying the South
After federal troops had put down the Confederate rebellion in 1865, they continued to occupy southern states for another 12 years. When the 1876 presidential election between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden ended in a virtual deadlock, with 20 electoral votes unresolved, Southern states allowed Hayes to become president in exchange for the removal of federal troops in what became known as the Compromise of 1877.
After Hayes soon reneged on the deal and deployed federal troops to put down the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, Congress passed the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 to codify the agreement. The Act today reads:
“Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.”
The exceptions authorized by Congress would be critical. In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower found an exception to the Act to return federal troops South to Little Rock, Arkansas to enforce desegregation of the schools after the governor refused to obey a 1954 Supreme Court decision ruling school segregation unconstitutional.
1967 Detroit Riots
Eisenhower drew on the Enforcement Acts of 1870 and 1871 that enforced blacks’ rights to vote, hold office, serve on juries and get equal protection under the law.
In July 1967, President Lyndon Johnson sent 5,000 federal troops to Detroit, the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, after a request from the Michigan governor to put down five-days of rioting sparked by a police raid on an African-American, unlicensed, after-hours bar.
Johnson told a national television audience that he was acting under the “Constitution” and “the statutes,” though he did not name them.
Michigan Gov. George Romney had declared a “state of insurrection.” In his executive order, Johnson cited 10 U.S. code, Chap. 15– Military Support for Civilian Law Enforcement Agencies.
The Detroit uprising was the worst in the U.S. since the 1863 Draft Riot in New York City. After five days, 41 people were dead, and more than 1,300 buildings burned.
In 1992, President George H.W. Bush deployed 4,000 Army and Marine troops to Los Angeles to put down riots after the police who beat Rodney King were acquitted. Bush’s exception was to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act. It reads today:
“Whenever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, he may call into Federal service such of the militia of any State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to enforce those laws or to suppress the rebellion.”
The Act does not require the agreement of local authorities for the president to deploy troops to put down an insurrection.
Bush’s son, George W. Bush, in 2006 successfully asked Congress to expand the Insurrection Act to allow deployment of federal troops in case of a natural disaster or a terrorist attack, thereby weakening the intent of the Posse Comitatus Act.
When Barack Obama signed the 2012 Defense Authorization Act on New Year’s Eve 2011, he was agreeing to allow indefinite military detention of civilians in the U.S. and anywhere abroad. “There is substantial public debate and uncertainty around whether Sections 1021 and 1022 of the NDAA could be read even to repeal the Posse Comitatus Act and authorize indefinite military detention without charge or trial within the United States,” the American Civil Liberties Union said.
Given this legal background it appears Trump could follow through with his threat, even if local authorities don’t agree.
Francis Boyle, a University of Illinois professor of international law, said Attorney General William Barr “worked for [H.W.] Bush, he has been through this exercise before and is aware of what happened and the legal precedents and authority. I am sure he has advised Trump he can pull the Federal Trigger if he wants to no matter what the Minnesota governor wants.”
“My guess is Trump probably will,” said Boyle. “Makes him look like the Law and Order guy for the campaign. Distracts from his Covid-19 disaster.” So far Trump seems satisfied with the Minnesota National Guard’s performance on Saturday night.
Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump
The National Guard has been released in Minneapolis to do the job that the Democrat Mayor couldn’t do. Should have been used 2 days ago & there would not have been damage & Police Headquarters would not have been taken over & ruined. Great job by the National Guard. No games!
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9:08 PM - May 30, 2020
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But it is chilling to think that he’s got the legal exceptions to round up a posse and send it to Minneapolis or any of the 48 cities that are on fire.
Donald Trump has threatened to unleash “the unlimited power of our Military” to quell the Minnesota uprising, using the U.S. army to essentially “invade” a state without a governor’s consent, writes Joe Lauria.
By Joe Lauria
Special to Consortium News
President Donald Trump has threatened to send “active duty” U.S. military to Minnesota to quell the uprising against the police killing of yet another unarmed African-American even though the state’s governor had not accepted Trump’s offer.The president made his intention known in a series of tweets on Friday:
Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump
· May 28, 2020
I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right.....
Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump
....These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!
83.7K
11:53 PM - May 28, 2020
Twitter Ads info and privacy
71.7K people are talking about this
Trump said “we will assume control,” clearly meaning the federal government. The National Guard of each state is controlled by the state governor.
The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration has offered “the use of active-duty soldiers and intelligence,” including “some forces who were put on alert to deploy.”
The New York Times and other media said “military police” were being prepared by the Pentagon and that it would be the first deployment of MPs since the Rodney King uprisings in Los Angeles of 1992.
Trump’s threats to deploy federal troops raise the legal question of whether the U.S. federal army can be deployed on U.S. soil for law enforcement purposes.
Occupying the South
After federal troops had put down the Confederate rebellion in 1865, they continued to occupy southern states for another 12 years. When the 1876 presidential election between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden ended in a virtual deadlock, with 20 electoral votes unresolved, Southern states allowed Hayes to become president in exchange for the removal of federal troops in what became known as the Compromise of 1877.
After Hayes soon reneged on the deal and deployed federal troops to put down the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, Congress passed the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 to codify the agreement. The Act today reads:
“Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.”
The exceptions authorized by Congress would be critical. In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower found an exception to the Act to return federal troops South to Little Rock, Arkansas to enforce desegregation of the schools after the governor refused to obey a 1954 Supreme Court decision ruling school segregation unconstitutional.
1967 Detroit Riots
Eisenhower drew on the Enforcement Acts of 1870 and 1871 that enforced blacks’ rights to vote, hold office, serve on juries and get equal protection under the law.
In July 1967, President Lyndon Johnson sent 5,000 federal troops to Detroit, the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, after a request from the Michigan governor to put down five-days of rioting sparked by a police raid on an African-American, unlicensed, after-hours bar.
Johnson told a national television audience that he was acting under the “Constitution” and “the statutes,” though he did not name them.
Michigan Gov. George Romney had declared a “state of insurrection.” In his executive order, Johnson cited 10 U.S. code, Chap. 15– Military Support for Civilian Law Enforcement Agencies.
The Detroit uprising was the worst in the U.S. since the 1863 Draft Riot in New York City. After five days, 41 people were dead, and more than 1,300 buildings burned.
In 1992, President George H.W. Bush deployed 4,000 Army and Marine troops to Los Angeles to put down riots after the police who beat Rodney King were acquitted. Bush’s exception was to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act. It reads today:
“Whenever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, he may call into Federal service such of the militia of any State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to enforce those laws or to suppress the rebellion.”
The Act does not require the agreement of local authorities for the president to deploy troops to put down an insurrection.
Bush’s son, George W. Bush, in 2006 successfully asked Congress to expand the Insurrection Act to allow deployment of federal troops in case of a natural disaster or a terrorist attack, thereby weakening the intent of the Posse Comitatus Act.
When Barack Obama signed the 2012 Defense Authorization Act on New Year’s Eve 2011, he was agreeing to allow indefinite military detention of civilians in the U.S. and anywhere abroad. “There is substantial public debate and uncertainty around whether Sections 1021 and 1022 of the NDAA could be read even to repeal the Posse Comitatus Act and authorize indefinite military detention without charge or trial within the United States,” the American Civil Liberties Union said.
Given this legal background it appears Trump could follow through with his threat, even if local authorities don’t agree.
Francis Boyle, a University of Illinois professor of international law, said Attorney General William Barr “worked for [H.W.] Bush, he has been through this exercise before and is aware of what happened and the legal precedents and authority. I am sure he has advised Trump he can pull the Federal Trigger if he wants to no matter what the Minnesota governor wants.”
“My guess is Trump probably will,” said Boyle. “Makes him look like the Law and Order guy for the campaign. Distracts from his Covid-19 disaster.” So far Trump seems satisfied with the Minnesota National Guard’s performance on Saturday night.
Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump
The National Guard has been released in Minneapolis to do the job that the Democrat Mayor couldn’t do. Should have been used 2 days ago & there would not have been damage & Police Headquarters would not have been taken over & ruined. Great job by the National Guard. No games!
291K
9:08 PM - May 30, 2020
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140K people are talking about this
But it is chilling to think that he’s got the legal exceptions to round up a posse and send it to Minneapolis or any of the 48 cities that are on fire.
“The system is suffocating the life out of the working class”
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/06/01/work-j01.html
Autoworkers denounce police murder of George Floyd, express support for protesters
By our reporters
1 June 2020
Autoworkers in Detroit, Michigan and Kokomo, Indiana denounced the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and expressed support for the tens of thousands of young people of all races who were protesting against police violence across the country. The workers rejected efforts to brand the protesters as “violent” and said the real violence was being perpetrated by police and National Guard troops dispatched by state and local officials and incited by President Trump.
“It’s very upsetting to me that the mainstream media focuses on race, when it is very clear that the demonstrators are black, white, multiracial,” said a worker at Fiat Chrysler’s Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in suburban Detroit. “I was moved to see the video of the Amish people protesting the murder of George Floyd. The media is also focusing on the violence, much of which is caused by police provocateurs and plants. Sure, there are some ordinary people looting, too, but there is a lot be angry about,” he said.
“To see a man suffocated in broad daylight and knowing the video you’re watching was taken by a 17-year-old girl says a lot about America,” he continued. “To give a panoramic view of the situation, as an autoworker I feel like we all have a knee on our necks because we are forced to return to work in the middle of the pandemic. I’m working 10 hours a day, wearing a mask that makes me dizzy. I’m forced to choose between my health and a paycheck. We are treated like cattle. I feel paranoid. Who might have the virus? Is the air conditioning circulating the virus? There were three more confirmed COVID cases at the plant before we all returned. At least four SHAP workers have already died.”
The police murder of Floyd, the worker said, was part of a whole series of measures taken by the Trump administration and the government to deprive workers of their basic rights, including the right to live. “The government and the corporations are oblivious to the safety and lives of workers. The back-to-work order puts profits over life. When I see what has happened to the meatpackers, that to me is the same thing as a cop pressing his knee on George Floyd. The system is suffocating the life out of the working class.
“I feel the same way when I see children being taken from their families. There are immigrants in detention centers, and children covered with aluminum blankets. The way the entire pandemic is being handled is also criminal,” he said.
“It’s like we’re in a Third World country. And what do the Oprah Winfreys and Tyler Perrys have to say? They’re very wealthy, and they say, ‘Calm down.’ It’s not about race, it’s class. I can see why it is that the ruling class sees a threat if the working class in its entirety, globally is united. The ruling class does not want the merging of the working class.”
An autoworker at Fiat Chrysler's Kokomo Transmission plant also spoke in support of the protests and the need for workers to organize a fight for safe working conditions. "I believe George Floyd's murder has ignited something. The protests are happening all over the world now. His name will be remembered in history. Enough is enough. I can't imagine how his family feels. The police have been doing this to people of every skin color. Now it is on video, and we're able to see it. In every situation, police escalate to violence, and nothing ever happens to these cops. People are so sick and tired of the government lying to them.
“Politicians are sharing false information about the coronavirus in order to reopen states. People are not idiots, like the government seems to think we are.
"We need to fight to show the public the conditions in these plants. Neither of the plants I worked at had hot water, and we’d run out of gloves all the time. They made us use recycled gloves, which were sent off somewhere when we were done with them to be cleaned, but they would come back in bad condition. One woman at Chrysler cut herself because a piece of metal
was in the gloves. There is no way that you're ever six feet away from anyone on those lines. You could reach out and touch someone on the sub-assembly line, for example.
"When someone goes into the plants when the virus is going around, that person could bring it home to their loved ones. Chrysler has an abundance of transmissions in their warehouses, so I don't understand the point of putting people in the plants where they risk their lives and their families' lives. They have enough stored up for us not to need to work for at least three months."
On the question of Democratic and Republican politicians across the US deploying the National Guard against protesters, she responded, "Why didn't these governors call the National Guard in when white supremacists with guns protested at the state capitols? Why
were they allowed to act violently and maliciously, but they're going to send the National Guard to shoot protesters who are against violence? If they send troops, they're going to shoot them. Isn't violence the only thing the American government has shown the world? I'm tired of the Democrats and Republicans.”
She continued, "What the union does is criminal. The UAW has divided workers in the
Plants. They take money from us, they do nothing with it but pocket it. Why aren't union safety reps being held accountable? They're spending thousands of dollars to send them to
classes to learn safety and health. And the medical unit at Chrysler is a joke. It's a band-aid clinic, which is just there so OSHA doesn't come in."
The worker responded to the call for workers to build rank-and-file committees to oversee safety and health in the plants and for the working class to advance its own answer to social inequality, police violence and other attacks on democratic and social rights. "It needs to be done. We need to organize to fight and stop what's going on. The plants have always been places where people got hurt and died. People should be able to go to work and not be harassed for speaking out when they see that things are not safe. The economy is going in two ways: either you're rich or you're poor. The people protesting are fighting for humanity, fighting for survival, for us to be one and not be defined by gender or race."
Another SHAP worker added, “The police are riling things up, coming in full blast, guns blazing and firing tear gas at protesters. On social media you can see police moles breaking windows and stirring up things. The police are even firing rubber bullets at reporters, and a whole camera team got arrested in Minneapolis.
“I’ve known about the way the police operate since Rodney King in LA. They do what they want, and feel they can get away with it. Usually after beating or killing someone, they get put on administrative leave and get away with it. But what the cop did to Floyd was caught on video, and everybody is coming together, black and white, to demand justice.
“People are getting together, exchanging numbers, using social media and groups are being created to speak out more than ever. There were protests in England and even in Iran. This is very vast. What the police are doing now, trying to put down a lot of people, is even larger than a single murder. It sheds light on the whole imbalance in society. The working class has to come together, that would be the most powerful way to fight police killings, unemployment and all the issues workers face.”
Autoworkers in Detroit, Michigan and Kokomo, Indiana denounced the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and expressed support for the tens of thousands of young people of all races who were protesting against police violence across the country. The workers rejected efforts to brand the protesters as “violent” and said the real violence was being perpetrated by police and National Guard troops dispatched by state and local officials and incited by President Trump.
“It’s very upsetting to me that the mainstream media focuses on race, when it is very clear that the demonstrators are black, white, multiracial,” said a worker at Fiat Chrysler’s Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in suburban Detroit. “I was moved to see the video of the Amish people protesting the murder of George Floyd. The media is also focusing on the violence, much of which is caused by police provocateurs and plants. Sure, there are some ordinary people looting, too, but there is a lot be angry about,” he said.
“To see a man suffocated in broad daylight and knowing the video you’re watching was taken by a 17-year-old girl says a lot about America,” he continued. “To give a panoramic view of the situation, as an autoworker I feel like we all have a knee on our necks because we are forced to return to work in the middle of the pandemic. I’m working 10 hours a day, wearing a mask that makes me dizzy. I’m forced to choose between my health and a paycheck. We are treated like cattle. I feel paranoid. Who might have the virus? Is the air conditioning circulating the virus? There were three more confirmed COVID cases at the plant before we all returned. At least four SHAP workers have already died.”
The police murder of Floyd, the worker said, was part of a whole series of measures taken by the Trump administration and the government to deprive workers of their basic rights, including the right to live. “The government and the corporations are oblivious to the safety and lives of workers. The back-to-work order puts profits over life. When I see what has happened to the meatpackers, that to me is the same thing as a cop pressing his knee on George Floyd. The system is suffocating the life out of the working class.
“I feel the same way when I see children being taken from their families. There are immigrants in detention centers, and children covered with aluminum blankets. The way the entire pandemic is being handled is also criminal,” he said.
“It’s like we’re in a Third World country. And what do the Oprah Winfreys and Tyler Perrys have to say? They’re very wealthy, and they say, ‘Calm down.’ It’s not about race, it’s class. I can see why it is that the ruling class sees a threat if the working class in its entirety, globally is united. The ruling class does not want the merging of the working class.”
An autoworker at Fiat Chrysler's Kokomo Transmission plant also spoke in support of the protests and the need for workers to organize a fight for safe working conditions. "I believe George Floyd's murder has ignited something. The protests are happening all over the world now. His name will be remembered in history. Enough is enough. I can't imagine how his family feels. The police have been doing this to people of every skin color. Now it is on video, and we're able to see it. In every situation, police escalate to violence, and nothing ever happens to these cops. People are so sick and tired of the government lying to them.
“Politicians are sharing false information about the coronavirus in order to reopen states. People are not idiots, like the government seems to think we are.
"We need to fight to show the public the conditions in these plants. Neither of the plants I worked at had hot water, and we’d run out of gloves all the time. They made us use recycled gloves, which were sent off somewhere when we were done with them to be cleaned, but they would come back in bad condition. One woman at Chrysler cut herself because a piece of metal
was in the gloves. There is no way that you're ever six feet away from anyone on those lines. You could reach out and touch someone on the sub-assembly line, for example.
"When someone goes into the plants when the virus is going around, that person could bring it home to their loved ones. Chrysler has an abundance of transmissions in their warehouses, so I don't understand the point of putting people in the plants where they risk their lives and their families' lives. They have enough stored up for us not to need to work for at least three months."
On the question of Democratic and Republican politicians across the US deploying the National Guard against protesters, she responded, "Why didn't these governors call the National Guard in when white supremacists with guns protested at the state capitols? Why
were they allowed to act violently and maliciously, but they're going to send the National Guard to shoot protesters who are against violence? If they send troops, they're going to shoot them. Isn't violence the only thing the American government has shown the world? I'm tired of the Democrats and Republicans.”
She continued, "What the union does is criminal. The UAW has divided workers in the
Plants. They take money from us, they do nothing with it but pocket it. Why aren't union safety reps being held accountable? They're spending thousands of dollars to send them to
classes to learn safety and health. And the medical unit at Chrysler is a joke. It's a band-aid clinic, which is just there so OSHA doesn't come in."
The worker responded to the call for workers to build rank-and-file committees to oversee safety and health in the plants and for the working class to advance its own answer to social inequality, police violence and other attacks on democratic and social rights. "It needs to be done. We need to organize to fight and stop what's going on. The plants have always been places where people got hurt and died. People should be able to go to work and not be harassed for speaking out when they see that things are not safe. The economy is going in two ways: either you're rich or you're poor. The people protesting are fighting for humanity, fighting for survival, for us to be one and not be defined by gender or race."
Another SHAP worker added, “The police are riling things up, coming in full blast, guns blazing and firing tear gas at protesters. On social media you can see police moles breaking windows and stirring up things. The police are even firing rubber bullets at reporters, and a whole camera team got arrested in Minneapolis.
“I’ve known about the way the police operate since Rodney King in LA. They do what they want, and feel they can get away with it. Usually after beating or killing someone, they get put on administrative leave and get away with it. But what the cop did to Floyd was caught on video, and everybody is coming together, black and white, to demand justice.
“People are getting together, exchanging numbers, using social media and groups are being created to speak out more than ever. There were protests in England and even in Iran. This is very vast. What the police are doing now, trying to put down a lot of people, is even larger than a single murder. It sheds light on the whole imbalance in society. The working class has to come together, that would be the most powerful way to fight police killings, unemployment and all the issues workers face.”
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