Trump sends troops into DC
President Donald Trump militarised the federal response to protests of racial inequality that have erupted in cities across America yesterday as military police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at people protesting peacefully near the White House to disperse the crowd moments before Trump staged a photo op there.
Trump forced a brazen inflection in the crisis convulsing the country by calling the nationwide demonstrations ‘‘acts of domestic terror,’’ declaring himself the ‘‘president of law and order’’ and taking the rare step of mobilising the military to use force to quell the unrest.
In a move denounced by critics as dictatorial, the commander in chief threatened to deploy troops to ‘‘quickly solve the problem’’ if state and local authorities did not immediately regain control of their streets, which he said had been overtaken by ‘‘professional anarchists’’ and ‘‘violent mobs.’’
‘‘These are not acts of peaceful protest,’’ Trump said of those who have clashed with police, destroyed private property and looted. ‘‘These are acts of domestic terror. The destruction of innocent life and the spilling of innocent blood is an offence of humanity and a crime against God.’’ Referring to the nation’s capital, Trump said, ‘‘I am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, assaults and the wanton destruction of property.’’
This was Trump’s first address about the crisis since Sunday, and it became a frightening made-for-television scene of the militarised conflict the commander in chief envisioned.
As Trump delivered his remarks from the Rose Garden shortly before Washington’s 7pm curfew, military police and other federal officers could be heard one block away firing tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets at a large assembly of demonstrators who had been protesting peacefully across the street along Lafayette Square and raising their hands in the air.
The officers, some of them on horseback, used force to disperse the crowd, apparently in order for Trump to stage the photo op. Shortly after his Rose Garden
speech, Trump walked across Lafayette Square to stand in front of the historic St. John’s Church, which was vandalised on Monday, and hold up the Bible for cameras.
A White House spokesman defended the use of force by federal authorities, which was condemned by District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat.
‘‘The perimeter was expanded to help enforce the 7pm curfew in the same area where rioters attempted to burn down one of our nation’s most historic churches the night before,’’ spokesman Judd Deere said.
‘‘Protesters were given three warnings by the US Park Police.’’
This was Trump’s first time since Sunday emerging in public view from the fortified executive mansion where he had been cloistered. Security has been increased at the White House complex, where during loud protests on Saturday night Trump hid for a period of time in an underground bunker used to protect the president during emergencies.
In his remarks, Trump vowed to arrest, detain and prosecute protesters who threaten lives or property and pledged to ‘‘protect’’ Americans who are frightened by
the chaos and unrest.
‘‘I am your president of law and order,’’ Trump said.
Trump described himself as ‘‘an ally of all peaceful protesters,’’ despite the force with which officers under his command dispersed the nearby crowd, and despite having repeatedly derided football player Colin Kaepernick and other athletes who have knelt peacefully in protest of racial injustice.
With his extraordinary comments and actions yesterday, Trump risked escalating an already fragile standoff between police and protesters and inflaming tensions coursing through cities from New York to Los Angeles.
Earlier yesterday, Trump yesterday berated the nation’s governors during a conference call, describing them as ‘‘weak’’ in the face of growing racial unrest and urging them to take an aggressive stand against unruly protests.
Trump told governors that if they don’t take back the streets and use force to confront protesters they would look like ‘‘fools,’’ alarming several governors on the call as they communicated privately.
‘‘You have to dominate. If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time,’’ he said. ‘‘They’re going to run over you. You’re going to look like a bunch of jerks.’’ The Washington Post obtained a recording of the call.
The announcement, as well as the conversation with governors, followed nights of unrest and mass protests in cities across the country over the death of another black man in police custody, George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. Many of the protests have featured violent clashes with police, as well as the destruction of private property and looting.
The president struck a belligerent tone during the call, frequently urging governors to get tougher and use the National Guard if protesters begin to damage property or loot stores.
Trump told the governors that ‘‘you have to use the military’’ and ‘‘we have a wonderful military.’’ He also mused about the Occupy Wall Street movement, calling it a ‘‘disgrace’’ that was ended by governors and mayors being tough.
The president said that people arrested at the protests should serve 10-year prison sentences.
‘‘But you’ve got to arrest people, you have to try people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years, then you’ll never see this stuff again,’’ he said. ‘‘And you have to let them know that.’’ At the call’s outset, Trump noted that General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was also present and that the president had ‘‘just put him in charge’’ of managing the unrest in dozens of cities.
At a briefing later in the day, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany declined to offer details on Milley’s role or say why a top military leader would be in charge of overseeing domestic law enforcement issues. – Washington Post