The plot thickens… By local you mean local law enforcement… or were they something else?
Oh yes, I’ve known about this, as Project Legend in KC was one of the springboard operations for this. KC has had a pretty bad wave of violent crime. I don’t think any of it has anything to do with the protest we have had (which have been super chill compared to some areas.) But some pretty bad shootings, some involving kids, have been happening.
Thus far, it appears their involvement has been mostly focused on crime and I am not aware of them acting as a protest suppression.
IMO, based on what I have seen, the military leaders don’t like Trump. They had 8 years of stability working with Obama and Biden. If the votes are clear he lost, there is no way that they would mobilize under Trump for him to remain.
I’m looking at this disgusting story from across the pond. Does seem as if due process has gone out of the window in Trump’s realm, even if the guy may be a bit of a villain. Summary execution seems to be OK now with Trump. Nazis now spring to mind. Where and when is the investigation for all this?
I agree. I mean he has been raising the bar for “terrifying things guys with power can do” in this country every day for almost 4 years and he’s continues on with this tradition launching the bar into the stratosphere with this recent statement. If he wins a second term, he would be a new (even slightly more incompetent) Mussolini.
No, not at all. I just felt compelled to point that out as a matter of principle. Probably because I see so many people (including Covid Caligula) accepting this event as “justice” and “the way it has to be”.
Since NY’s tax return is mostly based on including a copy of your 1040, all that the US Supreme Court has to do is to rule that the information on a 1040 is incontestable after it’s passed Federal scrutiny, and therefore NY has to accept Trump’s 1040 as gospel, and the problem goes away.
My nightmare scenario is that he sets up a government-in-exile in Palm Beach, and keeps issuing executive orders to Federal law enforcement, which they follow. Being physically in the White House isn’t the power, just a symbol of it. If he can command FBI, ATF, DEA, CBP, ICE, FPS, BOP, … does he need the physical White House?
Local county sheriff deputies and one corrections officer. Not sheriffs from the county where the shooting occurred. I’m not sure if that was planned that way or not. If it was, it was to avoid investigation by the state instead of the county, which is the entity that is currently running the investigation.
I’m pretty sure the Secret Service wants to throw him out of the White House ASAP and bleach the shit out of the place. He has done a lot to piss them off.
The FBI, ATF, DEA have nothing to gain with treason. They will still be working for whomever is the elected President.The military leadership flat out hates Trump and wouldn’t mind a leader who isn’t actively insulting them or who takes plague seriously. CBP and ICE are the closest thing he has to a real goon squad and their power is pretty limited.
I’m late to the party here, but extrajudicial killing of US Citizens has been official policy of the US Executive Branch since 2010 when Obama ordered the murder of Anwar Al-Awlaki. It was “ok” because Barack did it and the target was just some terrorist, anyway. Due process should not stand in the way of political gain for POTUS /s
Then, frankly, you have your head in the sand about what the DoJ has done. Using federal agents in Portland came first and then the further use of the agents against protesters was covered up by saying the units sent to Chicago and Albuquerque were part of “operation legend.” The entire point was to target political opponents for points with his base.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, both Democrats, welcomed the federal help, so long as it was to assist local law enforcement with community policing and public safety. Both rejected the use of federal agents for the kind of protest crackdown seen in Portland, Oregon, saying such actions would be met with legal action.
“If the Trump administration wishes to antagonize New Mexicans and Americans with authoritarian, unnecessary and unaccountable military-style ‘crackdowns,’ they have no business whatsoever in New Mexico,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement.
Barr sought to differentiate the initiative from the use of federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to quell unrest in Portland, where local authorities have complained about the federal involvement.
EDIT
Even the Wikipedia page covers how it is a coverup to using DHS against protestors:
On July 22, 2020, Attorney General William Barr announced that more than 200 people were arrested during the initial operation in Kansas City, stating “Just to give you an idea of what’s possible, the FBI went in very strong into Kansas City and within two weeks we’ve had 200 arrests”.[2] Local authorities could not confirm the number announced by Barr, with The Kansas City Star later stating that “A Department of Justice official said the 200 arrests cited by Barr Wednesday included some dating back to December 2019, and included both state and FBI arrests in joint operations.”[2] At the time of Barr’s announcement, federal agents related to Operation Legend had made only one publicly known arrest, according to NPR.[23]
My statement was about Kansas City only. I am not aware of federal officers at any protest event. Our protests had some violence very early on, but have been very peaceful in comparison to some areas. If they did have any feds on the street, they weren’t involved in any clashes that I know of.
The current protests center around a cop putting his knee into the back of a 9mo pregnant women during an arrest from a fight, and people at city hall protesting evictions.
I am aware of Barr’s bullshit exaggerated claims of arrests. I am also aware of some of the arrests made under the “Operation LeGend” banner, but people forget there is an FBI office in Kansas City and we have always had federal agencies involved in law enforcement. So some of these arrests and investigations would have been done anyway.
The reaction to Operation LeGend has been mixed. The parents of LeGend have expressed gratitude for the extra help, and indeed, in August charges were filed on the alleged murderer. The Mayor has had mixed statements, wanting - needing help with murder investigations, while also insisting that the help is in the form of investigations, not active patrolling. So far the feds have not been active patrolling.
This schizophrenic idea of both protesting the police, and also exasperation over something needing to be done and supporting some police efforts is because KC is putting up some of the worst homicide numbers in a long time. We already matched last years toll, and we got 2.5 more months to go. The black community is where the violence is centered on and there have been various coalitions, peace marches, and other community rooted efforts, but the violence doesn’t seem to be subsiding. We have had some pretty crazy happenings here and people are exasperated.
Now, the rest of the stuff done around the country under that same name, I am aware of some of it and the cases of their use in protest suppression under the guise of protecting federal buildings. But that isn’t what I was talking about in my comment.
