REPORT
Hundreds of Former National Security Officials
Condemn Trump’s Response to Protests
In a letter, more than 200 former senior diplomats and
military leaders say there is “no role” for the U.S. military to deal with
protesters exercising free speech rights.
BY JACK
DETSCH, ROBBIE GRAMER | JUNE 5, 2020, 2:36 PM
More than
280 former senior U.S. diplomats and military leaders rebuked President Donald
Trump over his plans to use U.S. military units to control protests across the
country in a letter shared with Foreign Policy on Friday.
The
participants joined a chorus of high-ranking current and former officials who
already have condemned the commander in chief after police forcibly cleared
protesters near the White House this week for a photo opportunity.
The letter
was drafted by Douglas Silliman, the president’s former ambassador to Iraq;
Deborah McCarthy, who served as U.S. ambassador to Lithuania during the Obama
administration; and Thomas Countryman, a veteran diplomat who served as the
State Department’s top arms control official.
“Many of us
served across the globe, including in war zones, diplomats and military
officers working side by side to advance American interests and values. We
called out violations of human rights and the authoritarian regimes that
deployed their military against their own citizens,” the former high-ranking
officials wrote. “We condemn all criminal acts against persons and property,
but cannot agree that responding to these acts is beyond the capabilities of
local and state authorities.”
“There is
no role for the U.S. military in dealing with American citizens exercising
their constitutional right to free speech, however uncomfortable that speech
may be for some,” the signatories added, condemning the use of National Guard
helicopters in a so-called “rotor wash” low-flying action against protesters near
the White House on Monday night. On Thursday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper
ordered as many as 700 soldiers with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division
that were on high alert to respond to protests back home, leaving under 1,000
active-duty U.S. troops nearby, mostly from military police units.
Speaking to
reporters on Friday, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy confirmed that Esper had
given the 91st Military Police Battalion “vocal instructions” to depart the
Washington, D.C., area immediately and that it was the Pentagon’s intention to
send home any other remaining troops “as soon as possible.”
“The
decision to bring the active forces in on Monday was largely due to the fact
that we did not have enough people here,” McCarthy said at a Pentagon gaggle
today. “Sunday was an incredibly challenging night for us: The Lincoln Monument
was defaced, we had five soldiers hit in the head with a brick, obviously St.
John’s was burned. Inside of Lafayette Square, [we] definitely lost control, to
the point they were on the north fence.”
Lawmakers
and former members of Trump’s own administration, including former Defense
Secretary James Mattis, have criticized the White House’s decision to flood the
nation’s capital with more than 4,500 National Guard troops—mostly from other
U.S. states. Trump has yet to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act that allows the
U.S. military to respond to riots, and active-duty units ordered on standby did
not enter Washington, D.C., city limits.
But even
the deployments of reservists and Justice Department personnel, who have been
seen concealing their badge numbers and other identifying information, have
stoked ire from local officials, after protests proceeded peacefully throughout
much of the week. In a letter sent to Trump on Thursday, D.C. Mayor Muriel
Bowser told the president that she had ended the city’s state of emergency for
demonstrations and asked for National Guard troops to demobilize.
“The
protestors have been peaceful, and last night, the Metropolitan Police
Department did not make a single arrest,” Bowser wrote. “Therefore, I am
requesting that you withdraw all extraordinary federal law enforcement and
military presence from Washington, DC.” Bowser accelerated her protests of
Trump’s response on Friday, unveiling a street sign for “Black Lives Matter
Plaza” next to the White House after the city hired a crew to paint the
adjoining intersection with a stenciled tribute to the movement.
The walling
off of the White House and use of unidentified Justice Department personnel to
patrol Washington’s streets has prompted outcry from Capitol Hill, including
from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has demanded that those units make their
badge numbers visible.
While live
on air, a journalist and cameraman were attacked with tear gas along with
crowds across from White House.
“It’s the
concept that you don’t know who these people are,” said Bonnie Jenkins, a
former State Department official during the Obama administration and now a
nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution. “You don’t want the military
to be going against the American people.”
But the
stern pushback has done little to curb nationwide deployments of National Guard
troops in response to the protests, according to figures released by the
Defense Department on Friday. As of Friday morning, governors in 33 states and
Washington, D.C., had activated 41,500 National Guardsmen to respond to reports
of civil unrest surrounding the demonstrations, an increase of more than 9,000
troops from Thursday.
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