The New Republic reports members of the U.S. military are spending July 4 demanding answers about the consequences of following the orders of “Trump’s far-right authoritarian government.”
Air Force mechanic “Kim”, speaking anonymously to TNR, said she enlisted in the military “to get a stable paycheck, a roof over my head, food in my stomach at the end of the day.” But now she worries about the increasing prospect of being issued unlawful orders, fearing President Donald Trump is willing to use the military against American civilians
“And now we have military in our streets, and that’s not where you’re supposed to see them,” said Kim.
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George Washington University law professor Laura Dickinson says more and more military members are worried about being caught in the middle of either being court-martialed for refusing to follow illegal orders or getting prosecuted for executing them.
“The United States federal government has been very cautious about using the federal military domestically for law enforcement purposes,” said Dickinson or Trump’s decision to send federal troops to the streets of LA. “It’s norm busting and very concerning to people in the military.”
Another fear is that Trump might invoke the Insurrection Act to quash protests, despite the Act being designed to deploy the military against insurrection, not protestors shielded by the Constitution.
“The Marines aren’t trained in policing,” said Brittany Ramos DeBarros, an Afghanistan veteran and organizing director of About Face, which opposes military weapons and tactics being deployed against U.S. civilians. “People in the military understand that there’s probably no less equipped branch of the federal government to do de-escalation work than the Marines,” who DeBarros describes as trained for warfare, with rules of engagement that are very different from those of law enforcement.
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Even worse, people who served in Trump’s last administration admit the president has deliberated shooting civilians before at the height of Black Lives Matter protests.
“Can’t you just shoot them, just shoot them in the legs or something?” asked Trump, who received exemptions to avoid serving in Vietnam thanks to his wealthy father, according to the New York Times.
The About Face veterans’ group is spending the July 4th holiday launching it’s “Right to Refuse” campaign arguing that American service members deserve the power to refuse unlawful or immoral orders, particularly those issued against other Americans. The group also seeks to pressure Congress to pass a law providing protection to service members who refuse unlawful commands.
“I may not have joined the military out of the most patriotic of reasons, but I still raised my right hand and swore an oath to the Constitution to defend it from all enemies foreign and domestic,” said Kim. “But the American people are not the Constitution’s domestic enemies.”
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Read the full TNR report at this link.