Donald Trump intends to use the regular army to suppress riots that swept a number of American cities after the death of African-American George Floyd. The US president announced this, speaking on the eve of the White House. Trump criticized the local authorities, who, in his opinion, are not making the necessary efforts to normalize the situation.

“The authorities in several states and local governments have failed to take the necessary measures to protect their residents,” the American leader said.

Trump added that if regional and local authorities cannot protect citizens and their property from criminals and looters, then he will put an end to unrest by federal measures.

“I will mobilize all the resources available to the federal government, both civilian and military, to stop protests and looting, put an end to routs and arsons, and protect the rights of law-abiding Americans, including the rights guaranteed by the second amendment (to the US Constitution),” - promised Trump.

  • Donald Trump
  • Reuters
  • © Tom Brenner

The head of state reiterated that the mayors and governors "must ensure a massive presence of law enforcement officials until the riots are completely suppressed."

“If a city or state refuses to take the necessary measures to protect the lives and property of its residents, then I will send (there) US Army forces and quickly solve the problem for them,” the head of the White House emphasized.

Governors Opinion

Trump's statement has already been criticized by New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo. In his opinion, the US president is acting in his own interests, trying to increase his rating.

“The president calls on the US military to speak out against American citizens. For the sake of a photo shoot at the church, he employed the military to suppress a peaceful protest. For this president, everything that happens is just a reality show. Shame, ”Cuomo wrote on Twitter.

The president is calling out the American military against American citizens.

He used the military to push out a peaceful protest so he could have a photo op at a church.

It's all just a reality TV show for this president.

Shameful.

- Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) June 1, 2020

The governor had in mind Trump's walk in the White House Rose Garden on Monday. After appealing to the nation, the politician, accompanied by guards, reached the St. John’s Episcopal Church set on fire by protesters.

The day before, Oregon Governor Kate Brown refused to comply with the request of the Portland City Administration and engage the National Guard against protesters. According to Brown, speaking at a press conference, this is not the first time in recent days that she has rejected such requests.

The governor agreed to send only 50 National Guard, as well as 100 state police officers to the city. However, the security forces will not confront the protesters, but will only be present in the city. According to Brown, the appearance of soldiers on the streets of American cities is exactly what President Trump is seeking, but it will not reduce the level of violence.

As the dean of the Moscow State University faculty of world politics, Andrei Sidorov, explained in an interview with RT, local authorities - the governors and mayors who are now criticized by Trump - are thinking primarily about their image in the eyes of the population and about whether they can be re-elected in the next election.

“For any leader, it’s difficult to decide on the use of force against protesters. Most likely, the bet is on the fact that the demonstrators will rake and calm down themselves, ”the expert said.

A similar point of view is shared by Vladimir Vasiliev, the chief researcher at the Institute of the USA and Canada of the RAS According to the expert, the Democratic governors now deliberately show leniency towards the protesters.

“Trump is hinting that local authorities encourage speeches and riots, guided by their own political motives. He himself wants to show that he stands for order, like other Republicans, ”the expert explained in a comment to RT.

Uprising Laws

The plans of the White House to use the army to suppress riots became known to the media at the end of May. The Associated Press reported, citing sources, that the Pentagon leadership had ordered the army police units to be put on alert. It was about the possible deployment of the military in Minneapolis, where protests and riots began.

According to the agency, soldiers from Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Drama in New York received orders to be ready for deployment within four hours, and units in Colorado and Kansas within 24 hours.

It was also reported that the 1807 Law on Uprising could become the legal basis for such measures. 

The law gives the president the right to use military forces to suppress civil unrest and riots. This normative act is an exception to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prohibits the military from performing police functions in American territory.

  • Confrontation between police and protesters in 1968, Chicago
  • Gettyimages.ru
  • © Bettmann

Note that in 2005, Republican President George W. Bush even proposed the abolition of this rule. The politician explained this by the need to use the army to introduce quarantine in the country in case of active spread of the H5N1 virus.

As for the "Law on Rebellion," this norm was most actively applied in the 20th century. One of the most famous episodes was the authorities suppressing black protests after the assassination of Martin Luther King. Then the protests swept dozens of cities, including Washington, Chicago and Baltimore. Authorities deployed against the demonstrators about a hundred thousand police officers, soldiers and guards.

Recall, the cause of the mass protests that swept the United States in late May was the death of 46-year-old African American George Floyd. A man was detained by police on May 25 in Minneapolis. According to media reports, he was suspected of trying to pay for purchases at the store with fake notes.

During the arrest, one of the police officers pressed Floyd with his knee to the ground, squeezing his neck tightly. The man tried to explain to the security official that he was suffocating, but the policeman ignored these pleas and did not ease the pressure for a long time, even when a crowd of outraged citizens was gathering around, and doctors with stretchers arrived at the scene.

As independent experts subsequently established, George Floyd died of cardiac arrest and cessation of breathing, the reason - squeezing the detainee's neck, which was used by police officer Derek Chauvin. 

Police officers involved in the detention were fired, and Officer Derek Chovin was charged with third-degree murder. As the American media found out, complaints about his actions have been received earlier.

Floyd’s family and their lawyer are unhappy with the district attorney’s decision and demand that Chovin be charged with first-degree murder and that the rest of the police who were involved in the arrest also be arrested.

  • George Floyd Detention Frame
  • © Screenshot from video: Youtube

It should be noted that this is far from the first such tragedy. So, in 2014, in the US city of Ferguson, Missouri, a policeman shot dead 18-year-old black Michael Brown. This incident also became the impetus for mass protests against the arbitrariness and cruelty of the police towards citizens.

Mostly the victims of the police are African Americans. As stated in 2016 by Barack Obama, who headed the White House at that time, black Americans die at the hands of policemen twice as often as whites.

“These are not individual incidents, these are systematic events that take place in our law enforcement structure,” Obama emphasized.

However, as recent events show, the authorities failed to correct this situation.

The shocking video of George Floyd’s detention got on the Internet and provoked massive protests in the United States, sometimes flowing into pogroms and acts of looting and vandalism, which have not ceased for a week. 

Game on the edge

According to Andrei Sidorov, among those who took to the streets most of the real protesters, outraged by the actions of the police.

“But there are a lot of people in their ranks who are inclined to violent confrontation with the police, and there are also those who are engaged in looting and attacks. The situation is such that even those who were not originally set up for crime are drawn into the pogroms under the influence of general excitement, ”the expert said.

According to Vladimir Vasiliev, it is difficult to understand who is more on the streets of American cities - marauders or peaceful protesters. It all depends on how certain media present the situation, the expert explained.

“If the media focuses on the fact that these are protesters, then in American society there will be an idea that this struggle is for human rights. If they focus on looting, this gives Trump an additional trump card, which can rely on small and medium-sized businesses, ”Vasiliev said.

Experts have no doubt that the head of the White House is able to take extreme measures and leave the army to suppress riots.

According to Andrei Sidorov, this will happen if the National Guard and local authorities are unable to stabilize the situation.

"Most likely, Trump will apply the law" On the uprising ", he is a decisive person. Its voters are conservative in their mass, law and order is a priority for them, they only welcome such a decision. And this is a considerable part of American society, ”said the expert.

At the same time, the involvement of the army will raise confrontation to a new level, although it will not come to the civil war, Sidorov believes.

According to Vladimir Vasiliev, what decisions Trump will take in the current situation will affect his election campaign.

“But the application of the Law on Rebellion is a potential provocation of a civil war. Now Trump makes it clear to his opponents from the Democratic Party that he is ready to accept the challenge and bring the country to the brink of serious confrontation, ”the expert summed up.