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THE US PRESIDENT has said he will deploy the military unless state authorities take action to stop violence in protests across the country.
The protests were sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after he was pinned down by his neck by a white Minneapolis police officer.
Last night President Donald Trump called on State governors to “dominate the streets” and announced he would deploy the US military to “quickly solve the problem for them” if they did not.
This action would involve invoking a 213-year-old law: the 1807 Insurrection Act.
What is the Insurrection Act?
The act governs the ability of the President to deploy military troops within the US to suppress civil disorder, insurrection and rebellion.
The original text, which has since been amended a number of times, states it is: “An Act authorising the employment of the land and naval forces of the United States, in cases of insurrections.”
The act was last used in 1992 by George Bush when riots broke out in Los Angeles following the acquittal of four white police officers on charges of beating black man Rodney King.
Then-governor Pete Wilson requested that the California National Guard be federalised to deal with the unrest.
The National Guard is a military reserve force that generally responds to domestic emergencies. When federalised, a state’s National Guard is then funded by the federal government and comes under the control of the secretary of defence and the president, rather than the State governor.
Request of a governor
There are questions about whether the president would have the authority to use this legislation to take this action to stop the protests without a request from the governor of a state.
So far, no governors have asked the government to send active duty troops to their states. They have instead relied on local police and National Guard soldiers.
A 2018 report by the Congressional Research Service pointed out that the use of this legislation may still be allowed in certain cases without a request by a governor.
Presidents Dwight D Eisenhower and John F Kennedy have both, in the past, invoked the act without receiving requests from affected states.
Eisenhower did it in 1957 in Arkansas when segregationist councils attempted to prevent black students from entering Little Rock Central High School.
The governor of the state, Orval Faubus, sent the National Guard to support these segregationist protesters who were blocking the students.
In response, Eisenhower deployed federal troops to protect the nine students. He later federalised the Arkansas National Guard to take it out of the control of the State governor.
Kennedy invoked the act twice . The first time was in 1962 during the Ole Miss riots at the University of Mississippi, which were sparked by attempts to block the enrolment of black Air Force veteran James Meredith in the college
Kennedy also used it in 1963 to enforce desegregation orders on Alabama public schools. Both times he did this without a request from the state governor.
According to another report from the Congressional Research Service, before invoking the Insurrection Act, Trump would have to issue a proclamation “ordering the insurgents to disperse within a limited time”.
If the situation is not resolved, the President can issue an executive order to send in troops, the report stated.
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Please have some respect for this Garda and he’s family may I suggest that the comments on this story be closed ASAP.
@Inanimate Carbon Rod: “why? Let me mention an unrelated case”
@Inanimate Carbon Rod: There you go you’ve answered your own question by saying the word some Garda.
So if there is under handed stuff going on in that division may I ask how do you know this Garda is involved in it?
He may well not have anything to do with what’s happening.
You can’t just assume he’s got something to do with it.
I think the old saying is don’t tar them all with the one brush which is exactly what you’re doing here.
@Inanimate Carbon Rod: joking right?
@Joe oshaughnessy: Why close comments?
@Seamus Mc Meel: Because I’m fairly sure the family involved here would appreciate some privacy as would you if your family were in the same situation.
There’s no deterrent in this country to respect the Law. There should be stiffer sentences
@Noel Barnes: There might be a deterrent if the judiciary didn’t give lenient sentences to rapists and sex offenders and An Garda Síochána wasn’t lying through their teeth every other week about whistleblowers, breath tests, and abusing the PULSE system for a few quid off the tabloids. The Irish police force is one of the most corrupt forces in the Western World.
@Noel Barnes: look what happened to garda mc cabe that was the lowest.
@Michael Knight: any figures for that?
@John M: Figures for what?
@John M: Oh the breath tests? Sorry, I think they’re at 4 billion and counting.
@Michael Knight: jesus pal travel around the western world and experience other police forces then come back and see do you still believe in your comment. See are the as corrupt as you perceive. Might take a few years to get back from what ever country you cross paths with their police tho
@Noel Barnes: have you been following the disclosures tribunal? he law dont respect the law!
@Austin hickey:Ahem, Which Garda McCabe?
@Michael Knight: really? Because of statistics?
You have huge faith in other forces
@Austin hickey: yeah, imagine a police force receiving a report from a medical professional that one of their officers abused a child and actually investigating it.
They should have done nothing and protected him like honest cops eh?
The amount of s(umbags in this country is unreal. And I’m not using s(umbags in a classist term as some people were suggesting last week
@COYBIG: Last week & the week before that etc etc etc…there are some people on here that are just totally despicable! Aka trolling idiots.
@Larry Flynt: lovely you just proved my point!
@Colette Kearns: I don’t think anyone should listen to Larry. So let’s all ignore him.
Intimidating the Gardaí is a stupid move by stupid people. All it will do is make them more resolute. I hope these cowardly acts earn the sickos a few extra years behind bars.
If anyone here is ok with gangs and criminality then they’re the ones with the problem.
Using the incidents involving these two Gardai to justify a call for Gardai to be armed with tasers ? What good would tasers have done in both those incidents ? Says a lot about crime detection rates when even the Gardai can’t be ar$ed reporting crimes against themselves.
@Tommy Roche: The fact that they are trained to investigate incidents like these themselves they would know if it was worth wasting scarce Garda resources investigating where there was no evidence to suggest who carried out these attacks.
@Mick Jordan: But how do they know there’s no evidence if the crime hasn’t been investigated ? Isn’t that the whole point of investigation, to find evidence ? If the incidents are as insidious as this article suggests, then surely they warrant being properly reported and investigated.
@Tommy Roche: Because they being trained investigators themselves could see that there was nothing. If I were to break your window with a stick or hammer how would know it was me, unless I left the item behind or someone saw me you would have no evidence. Likewise with slashing your tyres or keying your car.
@Tommy Roche: is that a joke or are you just stupid?
Of course serving gardai would know if it’s worth reporting or not. This may shock you but normal gardai couldn’t give a flying monkeys about crime stats, they just want to catch criminals!
@Karl: Relax, Kermit.
@Mick Jordan: See no evil hear no evil.is that the answer Throw hands in the air Poor attitude to care in the community.
This is just blatant propaganda from the gardai. It’s transparent nonsense. Somebody (a supposed source in aGS) says something to the Journal about an unnamed case & alleged intimidation, on condition of anonymity, during a period of increased scrutiny of corruption in the force. Don’t take everyone for fools. This is f_-kin tragic!
@Paul Devlin: and before people get on my case, there’s no names, no area ( bar the vague ‘north east’), no crimes, nothing to actually pin it down. It’s just vacuous propaganda. If it’s true then show us the article where the windows were out in. Put some flesh on the bone. The supposed crime gang know where they live already so where is the ham? What a pile of cr-p!
@Paul Devlin: quick!!! Share all the sensitive information with this dumbass so he believes you
@Paul Devlin: So we can take it from your comment that you don’t like the Gardai.
@Rosie Murray: Paul got a speeding ticket before and the chip has remained on his shoulder since
@Pat Bateman: ya. But unlike Martin callinan and Paul Williams, he couldn’t get he’s dodgy Garda mates to wipe he’s penalty points!
All windows smashed and he didn’t report it?? Car keyed and he didn’t report it?? It’s almost like they’ve no faith in the Gardai, or could it just be a bullish!t story…
These shites that are carrying out these attacks on gardai probably have convictions as long as their arms but for some unknown reasons, the quacks in the judiciary keep giving them suspended sentences
North East, drugs or green diesel then???
Why didn’t they report the incidents? Was it to keep stats down
Gardai don’t do stats, the system they input data into does and they don’t input it trained civilian data inputters do read your inspectorate reports and also classification is as hard. Lets say your car gets broken into, your had tools taken,so theft, then you see they tried the ignition to start your car, unauthorised taking, there’s criminal damage also, maybe more all from one incident. You want to classify it as one incident its impossible at times. But Gardai turn up and investigate the crime that is their job not producing stats for the CSO that should be a bi product.
Anyway your comment was hilarious.
@Liam Burke: that comment speaks more about your lack of knowledge then the gardai.
Pulse and stats are controlled by civilians. Gardai just investigate
Speaks volumes if the guards aren’t even reporting crimes committed in themselves.
@Stephen Devlin: because they don’t care about crime stats which is all it would benefit. There’s no evidence and it would only waste more Garda time that they don’t have
@Karl: I think recording the problem is key to understanding improvements.
@Stephen Devlin: With nonsense like that you are surely management
they sure it wasn’t? own Freemasons in PSNI
Bet it’s Dundalk
Ireland doesn’t deserve the police it has, deserves much worse.
Unarmed, threatened off duty, badly equipped, badly led by senior officers that obtained their positions by nepotism a bunch of online cowards sniping at them for things outside their control and usually wrong.
I await the false and overly simplistic comment about being the best paid in Europe.
have your say