National Guard in DC to be armed

[Morphine Prince 109,981]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered National Guard troops patrolling the streets of Washington for President Donald Trump’s law enforcement crackdown to start carrying firearms, the Pentagon said Friday.

The Defense Department didn’t offer any other details about the new development or why it was needed. 

Source: https://apnews.com/article/washington-federal-intervention-trump-national-guard-df942130ec117288cfc648ab4e37f031

 

[Ladle Ghoulash 55,294]

Another fairly toothless attempted show of force. Can’t fire on civilians under Posse Comitatus. Not saying the authoritarian impulse isn’t unsettling, but this whole thing continues to read as desperate and pathetic. 

[FATCAT 60,960]

20 minutes ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

Another fairly toothless attempted show of force. Can’t fire on civilians under Posse Comitatus. Not saying the authoritarian impulse isn’t unsettling, but this whole thing continues to read as desperate and pathetic. 

Also armed doesn't mean they'll be loaded with live rounds, there are a lot of ways the national guard can "deescalate" without it being completely off the rails

[Lucas 31,527]

46 minutes ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

Another fairly toothless attempted show of force. Can’t fire on civilians under Posse Comitatus. Not saying the authoritarian impulse isn’t unsettling, but this whole thing continues to read as desperate and pathetic. 

But it's in Project 2025 to be able to use army on civils I think

[Ladle Ghoulash 55,294]

8 minutes ago, Lucas said:

But it's in Project 2025 to be able to use army on civils I think

Project 2025 isn’t the law. Project 2025 is a far right authoritarian wish list. 

[southpaw773 4,423]

I heard Donnie was joining patrols the other day too 

[Bling 31,708]

16 minutes ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

Project 2025 isn’t the law. Project 2025 is a far right authoritarian wish list. 

Which is slowly being fulfilled 

[Ladle Ghoulash 55,294]

9 minutes ago, Bling said:

Which is slowly being fulfilled 

Not really lol. The overwhelming majority of the P2025 initiatives that have been implemented via executive order have been overturned in court. The Trump admin’s failure rate in court is around 93%.

[PoshLife 17,019]

I live in DC and let me just say this entire thing is political theatre. Union Station (our major train station) is full of people in uniform just standing around and walking around, they have nothing to do. And it's not a coincidence that Union Station is walking distance from Capitol Hill where all the elected officials are. They want protestors to do something stupid so they can really crack down and say 'I told you so.' I'm not exaggerating when I say I had to dodge five different news cameras just walking through the train station earlier this week.

What a waste of time and money.

[Ladle Ghoulash 55,294]

2 hours ago, PoshLife said:

I live in DC and let me just say this entire thing is political theatre. Union Station (our major train station) is full of people in uniform just standing around and walking around, they have nothing to do. And it's not a coincidence that Union Station is walking distance from Capitol Hill where all the elected officials are. They want protestors to do something stupid so they can really crack down and say 'I told you so.' I'm not exaggerating when I say I had to dodge five different news cameras just walking through the train station earlier this week.

What a waste of time and money.

100%. This is exactly what happened in LA, too. The legal authority and scope of what Trump can do here is insanely limited because he hasn’t invoked the Insurrection Act (which wouldn’t even withstand judicial scrutiny because there’s literally no reason to do it), so the Guardsmen end up being aimlessly dispersed throughout the city with nothing to do, like you said. He’s just marching his toy soldiers around DC because he’s failing as president and wants to appear strong to his base and to try to scare his opposition into submission by trying to appear stronger and more powerful than he actually is.