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.