Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Donald Trump’s Alarmingly Authoritarian Decision To Deploy The National Guard And Marines To Los Angeles Against The Wishes Of Local Officials

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on Donald Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard and Marine Corps to protests in Los Angeles against the wishes of local officials, condemning the use of our troops as political pawns. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Donald Trump’s order mobilizing U.S. troops to an American city sets a dangerous precedent for our civil liberties.

As I’ve said, violence is not the way to achieve justice.

Freedom of speech is fundamental, but it must be exercised peacefully and lawfully, and the vast majority of protests – the overwhelming majority of protests – have been peaceful. They're exercising their American right – their privilege to peacefully protest. That's been with our country since its founding.

But sending troops to an American city, against the wishes of local officials, is outrageous, unnecessary, and reeks of authoritarianism. That’s what authoritarian countries do.

Using troops on U.S. soil should only ever be used as an absolute last resort. The last time it happened without state consent was sixty years ago, to protect civil rights heroes.

What Donald Trump is doing, rather, is spoiling for a fight. He wants chaos. He’d love any excuse to divert attention, and doing it this way – he does it all the time – is one of the most shameful, awful ways you can do it.  

Our troops don’t deserve to be exploited in this way, to be used as pawns in a nakedly political fight. It’s a deep disservice to them and to all service members and law enforcement who serve our country and protect our communities.

And why is Donald Trump doing this? To divert attention. He knows that his “Big, Ugly Bill” is highly unpopular with the American people. The more they learn about it, the more they hate it. So, he seeks to divert attention. That's his M.O.

But what it does is create chaos, and the American people don't like chaos.

I urge President Trump to immediately reverse course at once, remove all of the troops and the marines, and let local law enforcement do their jobs to keep the peace, as the governor of California and the mayor of Los Angeles said they're perfectly capable of doing.

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