Military on the streets of DC - what's going on?

[RTFirefly]

Apparently Trump decided to throw troops - and other unidentified forces - into the streets of DC. Here are a few things I’ve come across:

Troops on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

“Department of Justice” troops (possibly mercenaries?)

Military Police

Military vehicle blocking off traffic at 17th & L

Not military, but

The Drug Enforcement Administration has been granted sweeping new authority to “conduct covert surveillance” and collect intelligence on people participating in protests over the police killing of George Floyd, according to a two-page memorandum obtained by BuzzFeed News.

And the NSA is giving your phone records to the DEA. And the DEA is covering it up.

This is not good.

[Mundane_Super_Hero]

…And the Riot Cops are beating the ever-living-shit out of Press, so the only way you’ll hear about it is word of mouth.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-shove-make-ap-journalists-stop-covering-protest-71037409

[RTFirefly]

@Mundane_Super_Hero

…And the Riot Cops are beating the ever-living-shit out of Press, so the only way you’ll hear about it is word of mouth.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-shove-make-ap-journalists-stop-covering-protest-71037409

There’s a lot of bad shit happening out there. But can we keep this to policing being done by actors other than civilian police and National Guard? Thanks.

[RTFirefly]

The latest:

Back outside the White House. Today the perimeter has been pushed back another half block. Federal law enforcement of some kind, but they won’t identify themselves, and all insignias and name plates have been removed.

[Euphonious_Polemic]

@RTFirefly

The latest:

Back outside the White House. Today the perimeter has been pushed back another half block. Federal law enforcement of some kind, but they won’t identify themselves, and all insignias and name plates have been removed.

Trump’s paramilitary guard. Private security forces. Brownshirts.

[Wesley_Clark]

Part of me suspects aside from preventing protesters from taking over the white house, this is (for Trump) a dry run on using the military to prevent himself from being removed from power in January of next year in case he loses.

[RTFirefly]

Apparently the active-duty military troops are being withdrawn from DC, but according to the link, we will still have nearly 2000 National Guard troops from Tennessee, Indiana, and South Carolina.

[RTFirefly]

And Trump changes Esper’s mind; the troops are staying.

[RTFirefly]

Especially given the number of Dopers in and around DC, I’m surprised there’s not more activity in this thread. Anyway, the latest: here are the troops.

They’re getting off “Adventure Tours” buses. Used to be commercials for the Army with the tag line, “It’s not just a job - it’s an adventure.” So I guess they chose the right bus company to ferry them in.

[Der_Trihs]

Apparently a bunch of them are prison guards.

Closeups. A lot of them are federal Bureau of Prisons officers. SORT stands for Special Operations Response Team, a BOP tactical unit. Probably based in Texas going off the flag patches and “FCC Beaumont.”

BOP officers who do cell extractions and break up actual riots. The type who typically don’t do things gently because they don’t work in gentle environments.

[DorkVader]

Well shit.

Wasn’t expecting this sort of thing for another 20 or 30 years.

[RTFirefly]

Yep, Bureau of Prisons it is.

People used to dealing with hardened criminals, rather than mostly peaceful, unarmed protesters.

Swell.

And some of these guys have been sent to Miami, for no apparent reason. The mayor doesn’t want them, and was surprised by their arrival.

[RTFirefly]

This is a couple days old, but more mystery cops.

[running_coach]

@RTFirefly

This is a couple days old, but more mystery cops.

A link from that thread.

A brilliant, vicious, well deserved savaging of Trump.

“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?” Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following response:

A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

And that’s just the opening salvo.

[Loach]

@RTFirefly

Apparently Trump decided to throw troops - and other unidentified forces - into the streets of DC. Here are a few things I’ve come across:

Troops on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

“Department of Justice” troops (possibly mercenaries?)

Military Police

Military vehicle blocking off traffic at 17th & L

What makes you think that those are not National Guard? You understand the National Guard is part of the Army and has the same uniforms?

The pictures aren’t clear or close enough for me to verify one way or the other. The one where they are on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial screams NG to me. The mix of Army and Air Force (yes the Air National Guard is a thing)…The mish-mash of different types of protective gear…The helmets and vests with the old ACU camo pattern…