US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Wednesday that he does not support invoking the Insurrection Act to enable using military force to quell riots in the United States
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd June, 2020) US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Wednesday that he does not support invoking the Insurrection Act to enable using military force to quell riots in the United States.
"I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act," Esper told a press briefing, referring to a 1807 law that empowers the US president to deploy the military in particular circumstances such as to suppress civil disorder.
Esper expressed said active-duty troops should be used in law enforcement operations only as a last resort.
"We are not in one of those situations now," Esper said.
Peaceful protests against police brutality and racism erupted across the United States after an African American man, George Floyd, died in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25.
A video of the arrest posted online showed a white officer pressing on Floyd's neck for at least eight minutes while he was handcuffed and laying on his stomach.
Many of the protests soon turned into riots, complete with violence against police and civilians, and acts of vandalism, arson and looting.
