Without provocation, the President and Attorney General directed their agents in the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Park Police, D.C. National Guard, and U.S. Military Police to fire tear gas, pepper spray capsules, rubber bullets and flash bombs into the crowd to shatter the peaceful gathering, forcing demonstrators to flee the area. Many peaceful demonstrators were injured, some severely, by this unprovoked attack. The President and Attorney had no legitimate basis to assault the peaceable gathering. Their professed purpose–to clear the area to permit the President to walk to a photo opportunity at a nearby church –was a wholly illegal reason for abridging the constitutional rights of Plaintiffs and the others assembled in Lafayette Square. Indeed, the President has consistently demonstrated hostility towards viewpoints different than his own, and in the days and moments leading up to the attack, expressed his intent to violently attack protesters and “dominate” them. On June 4, 2020, together with our partners, we sued President Trump, Attorney General Barr, Secretary of Defense Esper, and numerous other federal officials on behalf of Black Lives Matter D.C. and five individual protestors, including a nine-year-old boy, for violations of their constitutional rights. Our action seeks to uphold, against blatantly unlawful attack, cherished rights enshrined in the First and Fourth Amendment to the Constitution and foundational to our democracy: the rights to peaceful assembly, petition for redress of grievances, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom from unwarranted seizures by the government. https://www.acludc.org/en/cases/black-lives-matter-dc-v-trump
Законодательная власть:
We are concerned about the increased militarization and lack of clarity that may increase chaos. I am writing to request a full list of the agencies involved and clarifications of the roles and responsibilities of the troops and federal law enforcement resources operating in the city. Congress and the American people need to know who is in charge, what is the chain of command, what is the mission, and by what authority is the National Guard from other states operating in the capital. To make matters worse, some officers have refused to provide identification and have been deployed without identifying insignias, badges and name plates. The practice of officers operating with full anonymity undermines accountability, ignites government distrust and suspicion, and is counter to the principle of procedural justice and legitimacy during this precarious moment in our nation’s history. The Department of Justice itself in the past has stated that allowing officers to work anonymously creates “mistrust and undermines accountability” and “conveys a message to community members that, through anonymity, officers may seek to act with impunity.” In recent days, many former high-level DOJ officials have echoed these concerns and warned that allowing federal law enforcement officers to operate without identification can fatally weaken oversight efforts and fails to send the message that abuse will not be tolerated. https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/6420-0
An internal document compiled for the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Thursday and seen by Bloomberg News provides the most detailed breakdown of federal force numbers and locations as the government seeks to contain protests after the killing of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, at the hands of Minneapolis Police. The document, which isn’t classified, shows 2,950 law enforcement personnel from U.S. agencies working alongside 2,935 National Guard troops, bolstered by 1,704 active-duty troops who are currently stationed outside the capital at Andrews Air Force Base, Fort Belvoir and Fort Myer. The total deployments include 500 personnel each from the U.S. Capitol Police, Washington Police Department and U.S. Secret Service; 445 Bureau of Prisons staff, 168 members of the U.S. Marshals Service, 160 Drug Enforcement Agency employees, 80 U.S. Park Police and 32 FBI agents. The numbers come to light as former Defense Secretary James Mattis and others have decried what they see as the militarization of the law enforcement response designed to keep the peace following several nights of demonstrations, some of which turned destructive as protesters broke windows and sprayed graffiti on federal monuments. And it follows the Trump administration’s decision to clear peaceful protesters from a park in front of the White House on Monday so the president could stand before a historic church holding a Bible. The active-duty forces stationed outside Washington would be deployed into the city only as part of a contingency plan if President Donald Trump decided to invoke the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that allows the U.S. military to be put on the streets for law enforcement purposes. Trump signaled several days ago that he might invoke the act. But violence among protesters has declined in recent days, leading Defense Secretary Mark Esper to say Wednesday that he opposed the use of the law, and some active-duty forces are beginning to return to their home bases. <...> The document is titled “Domestic Unrest -- Washington D.C. Overview.” It was prepared Thursday by a division of the Joint Staff that monitors homeland defense issues for General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs. <...> National Guard forces on Thursday included 1,724 troops from nine states, with an additional 1,353 personnel planned, according to the document. The biggest contingent currently comes from South Carolina, with 446 National Guard, but a deployment of 1,055 from Tennessee is planned, the document says. Among the active-duty forces listed as on call from their home base of Fort Myer, abutting Washington, are 432 members of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, or “Old Guard.” It’s the Army’s oldest active unit, whose members escort the president and are best known for 24-hour vigils over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Active-duty troops from the 82nd Airborne and other units are also stationed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-06-05/federal-plan-to-control-d-c-protests-has-7-600-personnel-tapped
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no subject
Date: 2020-06-05 12:19 am (UTC)Судебная власть:
Without provocation, the President and Attorney General directed their agents in the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Park Police, D.C. National Guard, and U.S. Military Police to fire tear gas, pepper spray capsules, rubber bullets and flash bombs into the crowd to shatter the peaceful gathering, forcing demonstrators to flee the area. Many peaceful demonstrators were injured, some severely, by this unprovoked attack.
The President and Attorney had no legitimate basis to assault the peaceable gathering. Their professed purpose–to clear the area to permit the President to walk to a photo opportunity at a nearby church –was a wholly illegal reason for abridging the constitutional rights of Plaintiffs and the others assembled in Lafayette Square. Indeed, the President has consistently demonstrated hostility towards viewpoints different than his own, and in the days and moments leading up to the attack, expressed his intent to violently attack protesters and “dominate” them.
On June 4, 2020, together with our partners, we sued President Trump, Attorney General Barr, Secretary of Defense Esper, and numerous other federal officials on behalf of Black Lives Matter D.C. and five individual protestors, including a nine-year-old boy, for violations of their constitutional rights. Our action seeks to uphold, against blatantly unlawful attack, cherished rights enshrined in the First and Fourth Amendment to the Constitution and foundational to our democracy: the rights to peaceful assembly, petition for redress of grievances, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom from unwarranted seizures by the government.
https://www.acludc.org/en/cases/black-lives-matter-dc-v-trump
Законодательная власть:
We are concerned about the increased militarization and lack of clarity that may increase chaos. I am writing to request a full list of the agencies involved and clarifications of the roles and responsibilities of the troops and federal law enforcement resources operating in the city. Congress and the American people need to know who is in charge, what is the chain of command, what is the mission, and by what authority is the National Guard from other states operating in the capital.
To make matters worse, some officers have refused to provide identification and have been deployed without identifying insignias, badges and name plates. The practice of officers operating with full anonymity undermines accountability, ignites government distrust and suspicion, and is counter to the principle of procedural justice and legitimacy during this precarious moment in our nation’s history.
The Department of Justice itself in the past has stated that allowing officers to work anonymously creates “mistrust and undermines accountability” and “conveys a message to community members that, through anonymity, officers may seek to act with impunity.” In recent days, many former high-level DOJ officials have echoed these concerns and warned that allowing federal law enforcement officers to operate without identification can fatally weaken oversight efforts and fails to send the message that abuse will not be tolerated.
https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/6420-0
no subject
Date: 2020-06-05 12:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-06-05 11:10 am (UTC)An internal document compiled for the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Thursday and seen by Bloomberg News provides the most detailed breakdown of federal force numbers and locations as the government seeks to contain protests after the killing of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, at the hands of Minneapolis Police.
The document, which isn’t classified, shows 2,950 law enforcement personnel from U.S. agencies working alongside 2,935 National Guard troops, bolstered by 1,704 active-duty troops who are currently stationed outside the capital at Andrews Air Force Base, Fort Belvoir and Fort Myer.
The total deployments include 500 personnel each from the U.S. Capitol Police, Washington Police Department and U.S. Secret Service; 445 Bureau of Prisons staff, 168 members of the U.S. Marshals Service, 160 Drug Enforcement Agency employees, 80 U.S. Park Police and 32 FBI agents.
The numbers come to light as former Defense Secretary James Mattis and others have decried what they see as the militarization of the law enforcement response designed to keep the peace following several nights of demonstrations, some of which turned destructive as protesters broke windows and sprayed graffiti on federal monuments. And it follows the Trump administration’s decision to clear peaceful protesters from a park in front of the White House on Monday so the president could stand before a historic church holding a Bible.
The active-duty forces stationed outside Washington would be deployed into the city only as part of a contingency plan if President Donald Trump decided to invoke the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that allows the U.S. military to be put on the streets for law enforcement purposes. Trump signaled several days ago that he might invoke the act. But violence among protesters has declined in recent days, leading Defense Secretary Mark Esper to say Wednesday that he opposed the use of the law, and some active-duty forces are beginning to return to their home bases. <...>
The document is titled “Domestic Unrest -- Washington D.C. Overview.” It was prepared Thursday by a division of the Joint Staff that monitors homeland defense issues for General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs. <...>
National Guard forces on Thursday included 1,724 troops from nine states, with an additional 1,353 personnel planned, according to the document. The biggest contingent currently comes from South Carolina, with 446 National Guard, but a deployment of 1,055 from Tennessee is planned, the document says.
Among the active-duty forces listed as on call from their home base of Fort Myer, abutting Washington, are 432 members of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, or “Old Guard.” It’s the Army’s oldest active unit, whose members escort the president and are best known for 24-hour vigils over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Active-duty troops from the 82nd Airborne and other units are also stationed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-06-05/federal-plan-to-control-d-c-protests-has-7-600-personnel-tapped