Transcript for Too Much Posse
In October of 2024, Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, who is often accused of being a fascist, said something a fascist would say. Regarding people he considered to be “radical left lunatics” he said, “I think it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can't let that happen”.
A politician using military force against his political opposition is the very definition of fascism as it was conceived by Italy’s Benito Mussolini in 1919.
Donald Trump, since his appearance on the political stage in 2015, has suggested the use of military force against citizens multiple times, without compunction. The Donald is apparently unaware of the philosophical argument against this, and more materially, unaware of the Posse Comitatus Act that actually prohibits the use of military force against civilians.
While a presidential candidate suggesting the use of military force against citizens is concerning, it is not as concerning as the U.S. Military believing it has the authority to actually use force against American citizens, and writing a letter to itself asserting that belief.
On September 27, 2024 Kathleen Hicks, Deputy Secretary of Defense, issued DOD Directive 5240.01, titled DOD INTELLIGENCE AND INTELLIGENCE-RELATED ACTIVITIES AND DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE COMPONENT ASSISTANCE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AND OTHER CIVIL AUTHORITIES.
Verbosity is never in short supply in a trillion-dollar bureaucracy.
Most of this directive is the usual gobbledygook, re-hashing or refining the police state intelligence structure established by Ronald Reagan in Executive Order 12333 issued in December of 1981, empowering the FBI to become the domestic version of the CIA, and subordinating the Secretary of Defense to the Director of Central Intelligence.
But the interesting part, or should I say the scary and illegal part, is on page thirteen, regarding the Secretary of Defense approving military assistance to federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies.
Paragraph 3.3.a.2.c states “Assistance in responding with assets with potential for lethality, or any situation in which it is reasonably foreseeable that providing the requested assistance may involve the use of force that is likely to result in lethal force, including death or serious bodily injury. It also includes all support to civilian law enforcement officials in situations where a confrontation between civilian law enforcement and civilian individuals or groups is reasonably anticipated. Such use of force must be in accordance with DoDD 5210.56, potentially as further restricted based on the specifics of the requested support.”
In case it is not clear, the Secretary of Defense has declared himself the final authority for use of deadly force by the military against American citizens. This would come as a surprise to Congress, the Supreme Court, and anyone with an internet connection.
And that brings us to the Posse Comitatus Act. I’m sorry, could you say that into my good ear? I thought you said something rude there.
Posse Comitatus is Latin for ‘the power of the county’. In the days before militarized police forces were standing by to pump civilians and their dogs full of lead under the protection of Qualified Immunity, the Sheriff would deputize civilians under common law to apprehend criminals. If you have ever seen a Western film where a ‘posse’ was formed, that is an example of the practice.
The Posse Comitatus Act was signed by President Rutherford Hayes in 1878, to prevent the president from assuming dictatorial powers, such as when Hayes used the military to end the Great Railroad Strike of 1877.
The act, as amended to include all branches of the Armed Forces, states “Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, or the Space Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.”
Thus, the final authority to deputize the military for civilian law enforcement resides not with a Deputy Secretary of Defense, the actual Secretary of Defense, or even the President, but with Congress alone – or the several states if by some rare occurrence they could agree on a constitutional amendment.
Thus, while Donald Trump is being chastised – appropriately I might add – for his intention to quell unrest using the United States Armed Forces, the United States Armed Forces of the Biden Administration are preparing to do that very thing, illegally and subject to criminal penalty.
One cannot help but notice the timing of this Directive –two months ahead of what will be the most contentious election of the modern era and seems as if we will end up with Too Much Posse.