Bucking Trump, Pentagon chief Esper says no need for military response to George Floyd protests
Breaking with President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Mark Esper says he doesn't support using the military to quell protests triggered by the death of George Floyd.
“I don’t think they need to be used,” Esper told NBC News in an exclusive interview Tuesday night. “We have more than enough National Guard capacity out there.”
Esper expanded on those remarks in a press briefing on Wednesday.
“I say this not only as Secretary of Defense but also as a former soldier and a former member of the National Guard,” Esper said.
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 situations. We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act.”
Trump on Monday raised the specter of invoking the 1807 law in a Rose Garden address on Monday. Speaking at the same time as federal officers used force to clear peaceful protesters from outside the White House, Trump threatened to use the military to stamp out the continuing unrest across the country.
“If a city or a state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them,” Trump said.
'I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act': Defense Secretary Esper breaks with Trump on use of troops
In his Wednesday remarks, Esper said he believes the National Guard is “best suited for performing domestic support to civil authorities in these situations in support of local enforcement.”
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany responded a few hours later.
"The Insurrection Act is a tool available," she said. "The president has the sole authority. If he chooses to use it, he will do it."
Earlier Wednesday, two White House officials told NBC News that President Trump, for now, appears to be backing off his threat to invoke the law to give him authority to deploy troops to U.S. states to quash the protests.
The death of Floyd, whose final moments under the knee of a Minnesota police officer were captured on camera, set off days-long protests across the country, some of them violent.
In a memo to Defense Department personnel dated Tuesday, Esper stressed the importance of staying away from politics. "As I reminded you in February, I ask that you remember at all times our commitment as a department and as public servants to stay apolitical in these turbulent days," reads the memo obtained by NBC News.
