The national security state and the military are joining forces with the police and national guard to counter the nationwide protest movement that has exploded since the police killing of unarmed black man George Floyd on Monday.
In response to the police capitulation in Minneapolis, leaving their precinct to be burned down, Minnesota governor Tim Waltz has called on the National Guard to put down the revolt. Already deployed in multiple states, over 10,000 guardsmen are scheduled to flood Minneapolis streets, representing the first time in its 164-year history that the organization has been fully mobilized. They have been authorized to carry live ammunition. While Waltz’s actions might appear drastic, it appears he is actually a moderating influence, as Washington is pushing him to put active duty military on the streets.
“I think it’s really important again for folks to think about the uniqueness of our nation of protecting civil liberties is to make sure that civilian control of the military and especially inside the United States is carried out by civilians, by citizen soldiers by National Guard,” he said.
Yesterday, the Pentagon ordered soldiers and military police from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Fort Drum, New York, Fort Riley, Kansas and Fort Carson, Colorado, to be ready to be deployed potentially anywhere in the United States within a matter of hours. Authorities also deployed a Predator Drone to Minneapolis to monitor the protests.
According to documents leaked to The Nation, the military is actively monitoring uprisings in six other states – New York, Ohio, Colorado, Arizona, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Waltz revealed yesterday that he is already working closely with the military, receiving “intelligence support of what they’re seeing, what they’re signal intercepting, they have obviously from N.S.A. and others massive support to be able to see who these operators are.” The N.S.A. is supposed to be a purely foreign intelligence agency, but, as Edward Snowden revealed, the agency was conducting a massive spying operation both internationally and domestically. Waltz later claimed that he misspoke when referencing the N.S.A. by name.
Read more: National Guard, Now Authorized to Use Live Ammo, Flood America’s Streets
