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A top US #military official has ordered the national guards of all 50 US states, DC & US territories to form “quick reaction forces” trained in “riot control”, including use of batons, body shields, Tasers & pepper spray, according to an internal Pentagon directive reviewed by the Guardian.
#Trump #law #Constitution #RightToProtest #CivilRights #AbuseOfPower #Authoritarianism #Autocracy #Dictatorship #fascism #Tyranny #MafiaState #MilitaryState #NationalGuard #PosseComitatusAct
A top US #military official has ordered the national guards of all 50 US states, DC & US territories to form “quick reaction forces” trained in “riot control”, including use of batons, body shields, Tasers & pepper spray, according to an internal Pentagon directive reviewed by the Guardian.
#Trump #law #Constitution #RightToProtest #CivilRights #AbuseOfPower #Authoritarianism #Autocracy #Dictatorship #fascism #Tyranny #MafiaState #MilitaryState #NationalGuard #PosseComitatusAct
The memo, signed on 8 October by Maj Gen Ronald Burkett, the director of operations for the #Pentagon’s #NationalGuard bureau, sets thresholds for the size of the quick reaction force to be trained in each state, with most states required to train 500 national guard members, for a total of 23,500 troops nationwide.
#Trump #law #Constitution #RightToProtest #CivilRights #AbuseOfPower #Authoritarianism #Autocracy #Dictatorship #fascism #Tyranny #MafiaState #MilitaryState #PosseComitatusAct
As authority, Burkett cited Trump’s August executive order that deployed the guard to fight *crime* in #WashingtonDC. The same order required the secretary of #defense to create “a standing National Guard quick reaction force … available for rapid nationwide deployment” in “quelling civil disturbances”.
#Trump #law #Constitution #RightToProtest #CivilRights #AbuseOfPower #Authoritarianism #Autocracy #Dictatorship #fascism #Tyranny #MafiaState #MilitaryState #NationalGuard #PosseComitatusAct
Janessa Goldbeck, a former US Marine Corps captain & chief executive of the Vet Voice Foundation, a non-profit advocacy group, said the order represented “an attempt by the president to normalize a national, militarized police force”.
She predicted that force would be used to send #troops to #states led by #Democratic governors without their permission & could be used to suppress turnout and disrupt the fair operation of #elections.
In a worst-case scenario, she said, “the president could declare a state of emergency & say that elections are rigged & use allegations of voter fraud to seize the ballots of secure voting centers”.
The Pentagon did not respond to repeated requests for comment. A spox for the national guard bureau declined to comment on concerns that #Trump is seeking to normalize a national militarized police force or could potentially use the force to seize ballot boxes.
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