Thanks to GrumpyT for the heads up on this. Of everything I’ll mention today, I believe this is the most important. In an article from LongIslandPress.com called “U.S. Military ‘Power Grab’ Goes Into Effect, Pentagon Unilaterally Grants Itself Authority Over ‘Civil Disturbances’” it is explained:
“…the military has quietly granted itself the ability to police the streets without obtaining prior local or state consent, upending a precedent that has been in place for more than two centuries.”
The article is a tad long, but important and worth the read. I’ll briefly explain it and why this is important. The article explains what was done quite nicely, stating that:
“The U.S. military is prohibited from intervening in domestic affairs except where provided under Article IV of the Constitution in cases of domestic violence that threaten the government of a state or the application of federal law. This provision was further clarified both by the Insurrection Act of 1807 and a post-Reconstruction law known as the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 (PCA). The Insurrection Act specifies the circumstances under which the president may convene the armed forces to suppress an insurrection against any state or the federal government. Furthermore, where an individual state is concerned, consent of the governor must be obtained prior to the deployment of troops. The PCA—passed in response to federal troops that enforced local laws and oversaw elections during Reconstruction—made unauthorized employment of federal troops a punishable offense, thereby giving teeth to the Insurrection Act.”
There was similar legislation passed by Congress under President Bush but that was repealed the following year. While I disagree with the legislation, at least they did it the right way. The Pentagon didn’t just grant it to themselves.
The Pentagon has essentially granted themselves more power. With this new power, they have set aside 200 years of precedence and have made it much easier for the President to deploy troops domestically to quash a “civil disturbance” without being asked to do so by the state government.
Is this something congress can correct, or would they even want to?
If this stands, I can see many more instances like what occurred in Boston.
To me this is very concerning. Other than this report from the Long Island Press I have not seen anything else about this. After you read the linked article, I would like to hear your take on this.
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