DJT Orders More Aggressive Policing with More Militarization and Free Legal Help for Officers

Donald Trump signed an executive order to make policing more aggressive and intrusive, with more militarized equipment and tactics, and with indemnification and pro bono lawyers for officers accused of misconduct.

The order is entitled “Strengthening and Unleashing America’s Law Enforcement to Pursue Criminals and Protect Innocent Citizens.”

Chris Stoecker, who writes a column for the German current affairs publication Der Spiegel, posted about it on social media:

This is highly worrying. Trump has issued an executive order that basically is supposed to make it possible to use military forces as “law enforcement” and paves the way for militias “aiding” the police with legal impunity. They are preparing to violently quash expected riots.

Major law firms Trump pressured into capitulating have put almost $1 billion in legal services at his fingertips for no charge, so providing free legal cover to overly zealous officers does not require appropriation of funds by the House.

Federal resources, including military assets (personnel despite the Posse Comitatus Act, armored vehicles, tactical equipment, surveillance technology, etc.), are ordered to bolster state and local law enforcement.

State and local authorities who do not cooperate with law enforcement, such as those who do not assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, are to be prosecuted. They are also to be prosecuted if they are deemed to be involved with diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Law enforcement officers are to be more protected, and sentences for people convicted of crimes against them are to be harsher.

All law enforcement will be brought under federal oversight. The Attorney General will “review all ongoing federal consent decrees, out-of-court agreements, and post-judgment orders to which a state or local law enforcement agency is a party and modify, rescind, or move to conclude such measures that unduly impede the performance of law enforcement functions.” That means departments which have been found guilty of excesses and biases can have corrective measures against those out-of-bounds behaviors lifted.

Activities expected to start or escalate under this executive order include but are not limited to:

• Military-style no-knock forced entry into homes, often at night, without warning, for minor offenses or no offense (such as recently reported in Oklahoma City).
• Loosened restrictions on surveillance of protests, online activity and private gatherings, often without warrants.
• Unmarked federal officers detaining protestors without local oversight, such as the abductions of protestors in Portland, Oregon during Trump’s first term in office.
• Increased legal shields that go beyond current qualified immunity protections to make it nearly impossible to hold officers accountable.
  Blanket curfews, mass arrests and pre-emptive detentions during public demonstrations.
• Militarization of local police departments by supplying them with military-grade weapons, drones, armored vehicles and surveillance gear.
• Protestors designated as “domestic threats” to justify crackdowns on speech, assembly, and press to suppress dissent.

Click here for more details.

Click here for a LawFare summary and link to the text of the order.