Trump wanted to deploy active duty troops to crack down on George Floyd protests: Book
Former US President Donald Trump wanted to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 and deploy active duty troops to Washington, DC., to crack down on protests following the murder of George Floyd in May last year, according to a new book.
Trump got into a shouting match with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Army Gen. Mark Milley after he tried to force America’s top general to respond to demonstrations against racial injustice and police brutality, according to “Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost,” reported by Axios on Monday. A copy of the book was obtained by Axios.
Trump said that he’d just put Milley “in charge” of a military crackdown on the nationwide protests, Michael Bender wrote in the book.
But the general reportedly pushed back, saying that there were legal constraints on the US military interfering in domestic matters.
“I said you're in f---ing charge!” Trump reportedly yelled at Milley, who shouted back, "Well, I'm not in charge!"
Infuriated Trump told Milley, "You can't f---ing talk to me like that!”
“Goddamnit,” Milley said to others in the room, which included former Attorney General William Barr and former Defense Secretary Mark Esper. “There's a room full of lawyers here. Will someone inform him of my legal responsibilities?”
Barr then told Trump that “the general is right.”
Trump told Axios the account “is totally fake news, it never ever happened. I'm not a fan of Gen. Milley, but I never had an argument with him and the whole thing is false. He never talked back to me. . . . If Gen. Milley had yelled at me, I would have fired him.”
Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died in May 2020 after Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin placed his knee on the victim’s neck even as he pleaded, “I can't breathe.”
Floyd’s final moments, which were filmed by a bystander, led to largescale protests in the US against police brutality and institutionalized racism against African-Americans and Asian-Americans.
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