CNN reports:
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Wednesday that he does not support using active duty troops to quell the large-scale protests across the United States triggered by the death of George Floyd and those forces should only be used in a law enforcement role as a last resort, directly contradicting President Donald Trump.
“The option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act,” he said during a briefing at the Pentagon.
ESPER: “Nat’l Guard forces did not fire rubber bullet or tear gas into the crowd, as has been reported.”
Says Milley et al was wearing “field uniform” because that’s what’s approp when running the ops center
— Kevin Baron (@DefenseBaron) June 3, 2020
Esper says he asked staff to look into why helicopters were harassing crowds at low altitudes within 1 hr of hearing about it
— Kevin Baron (@DefenseBaron) June 3, 2020
Esper says he did not know the president was going to do a photo op…(check transcript)… I do everything I can to stay apolitical …sometimes I’m successful, sometimes not… my aim is to stay apolitical
— Kevin Baron (@DefenseBaron) June 3, 2020