Title: 'Call It the Surge': Vowing Nationwide Crackdown, Trump Touts Tougher and More Militarized US Police Source:
Common Dreams URL Source:https://www.commondreams.org/news/2 ... s-tougher-and-more-militarized Published:Oct 28, 2019 Author:Jake Johnson Post Date:2019-10-29 13:32:46 by Deckard Keywords:None Views:1405 Comments:5
President Donald Trump signs an executive order to create a commission to study the administration of justice following an address to the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) convention on October 28, 2019 in Chicago. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump on Monday said the Justice Department is preparing to launch a sweeping crackdown on crime that he named "the surge," a term commonly associated with the George W. Bush administration's decision to send tens of thousands of additional troops into Iraq in 2007.
"In coming weeks, Attorney General Barr will announce a new crackdown on violent crimewhich I think is so importanttargeting gangs and drug traffickers in high crime cities and dangerous rural areas," Trump said during the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Chicago. "Let's call it the surge."
The president did not provide any details on the plan but said it is going to be "very dramatic."
"And you're going to see tremendous results very quickly," Trump added.
"To help keep you safe, I've made $600 million-worth of surplus military equipment available to local law enforcement," Trump told the audience of police chiefs. "If you remember, the previous administration didn't want to do that... They didn't want to make you look so tough. They didn't want to make you look like you're a threat."
Watch Trump's remarks:
Trump's visit to Chicago, the first of his presidency, was met with massive protests led by Indivisible Chicago and other progressive advocacy groups. Striking Chicago public school teachers also cleared their Monday afternoon schedule to take part in demonstrations against the president.
"We have heard that President Donald Trump might be in town," leaders of the Chicago Teachers Union wrote in an email to members late Sunday. "If any members were inclined to show up outside his fundraiser in red, that would qualify as productive, in our view.
Thousands of protesters gathered and marched outside the Trump International Hotel and Tower in downtown Chicago, where the president attended a big-money campaign fundraiser after the law enforcement conference:
"We're angry," Marj Halperin of Indivisible Chicago toldThe Guardian. "He is taking pleasure in the misery of our city. He doesn't know us. He's coming to our city to raise money, largely from people who don't live in this city, without ever having addressed, supported, listened to the people who really need help."
"To help keep you safe, I've made $600 million-worth of surplus military equipment available to local law enforcement," Trump told the audience of police chiefs. "If you remember, the previous administration didn't want to do that... They didn't want to make you look so tough. They didn't want to make you look like you're a threat."
I am totally against the increasing militarization of local police departments. What we now have is a de facto standing army - adding more armored vehicles and tanks to the equation like Trump is doing is just ratcheting up the police state even more.
A lot of it going to Small Towns Across America , why is this necessary? We all know that this military equipment is not there to "keep us safe". It will be used in future door-to-door gun confiscation and round-ups of those the government deems "enemies" - like dissenters. Heck, some of the folks who post here are on the government red list, myself included.
A lot of it going to Small Towns Across America , why is this necessary?
We all know that this military equipment is not there to "keep us safe". It will be used in future door-to-door gun confiscation and round-ups of those the government deems "enemies" - like dissenters. Heck, some of the folks who post here are on the government red list, myself included.
NOPE; Absolutely NOT necessary to "keep us safe." Especially in small towns. We know this is one more BIG LIE.
All of the above is EXACTLY THE CASE.
(Dissenters = "ENEMIES")
What we now have is a de facto standing army - adding more armored vehicles and tanks to the equation like Trump is doing is just ratcheting up the police state even more.
Never mind that "standing army" buzz-kill stuff.
THIS is what's really important:
Those packed arenas of Trump-supporters are AMAZING?!! And oh -- that Trump -- what a rascal! He never backs down from the MSM or the Dems!! Ha-hah...Ho-Ho...
Republicans were never brilliant; But constitututionalists, conservatives, Christians, and Pizza-ists need desperately to look beyond this charade.