UPDATE:
And now the AP is reporting that the active-duty troops are not returning to their home bases:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Esper has reversed decision to return active-duty troops deployed near DC to home bases, Army secretary tells AP.
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) June 3, 2020
ORIGINAL POST:
The AP is reporting that the active-duty troops deployed to the DC area are going back to their home bases:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense officials tell AP that active-duty troops brought to DC area in response to protests are returning to home bases.
— James LaPorta (@JimLaPorta) June 3, 2020
BREAKING: Defense officials tell AP that active-duty troops brought to DC area in response to protests are returning to home bases. https://t.co/EvZili5oUT
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 3, 2020
This comes after Defense Sec. Esper said this morning that “he does not support active-duty troops to quell” protests around the country:
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper says he does not support using active-duty troops to quell the large-scale protests across the US and that those forces should only be used in a law enforcement role as a last resort, directly contradicting President Trump. https://t.co/upOuct3hHX
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) June 3, 2020
Weird. Just yesterday we were reading from the AP’s James LaPorta that not only were active-duty troops in the area, but they were armed with bayonets:
Also: 700 members of the 82nd are at Joint Base Andrews and Fort Belvoir. 1,400 more soldiers are ready to be mobilized within an hour. Soldiers are armed and have riot gear. They also were issued bayonets—standard issue but some feel could be inflammatory https://t.co/Ieo86bc4yF
— James LaPorta (@JimLaPorta) June 2, 2020
He later added some important context that the bayonets were standard issue and troops were told to keep them in their backpacks:
Some context: they were issued to the members of the 82nd deploying to Washington, D.C. – they were told to pack them in their backpacks. Members I spoke said bayonets are always on their packing list but given the context of the protests, it could be perceived in a bad light. https://t.co/h343ojJAjh
— James LaPorta (@JimLaPorta) June 2, 2020
But the damage was already done. Rachel Maddow’s reaction:
We've now entered the "bayonets" phase of the Trump Presidency? https://t.co/WgOuYgI8ZT
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) June 2, 2020
And others:
Bayonets. So that US soldiers can now stab Americans too. https://t.co/TiG3jH47le
— Sharmine Narwani (@snarwani) June 3, 2020
Nothing is "standard issue" about this. Paratroopers are trained to kill the enemy and hold ground.
In April 2003 the 82nd were used to control the civilians of Fallujah. They ended up killing 25 protesters, which started the insurgency in Anbar.https://t.co/EHibTmHivv
— Dan Murphy (@bungdan) June 2, 2020
After 3 years of fretting that the USA increasingly lags behind China, Trump is getting ready for a Tiananmen Square of his very own. https://t.co/tYOBNnBvKI
— David Frum (@davidfrum) June 2, 2020
Not to mention, all the National Guard troops spotted in DC yesterday had no visible weapons:
This photo by @MarthaRaddatz at the Lincoln Memorial is deeply disturbing. pic.twitter.com/4cUgxQKh2p
— Eli Clifton (@EliClifton) June 2, 2020
intersection of 14th & L pic.twitter.com/ezALDYYsnU
— Donté Stallworth (@DonteStallworth) June 2, 2020
As I got to downtown DC, I suddenly encountered this, blocks from the WH, with all sorts of blackshirted DEA agents and armed military milling around. That felt menacing. 3/ pic.twitter.com/VNcOO9LyGH
— Heidi Li Feldman (@HeidiLiFeldman) June 2, 2020
Weakest military occupation in history.
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Editor’s note: We’ve fixed a typo in the headline.
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