WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th June, 2020) The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved a measure to ban the use of military troops against peaceful protesters, Senator Tim Kaine's office said in a statement on Thursday.
The newly approved National Defense Authorization Act "includes, with strong bipartisan support, Kaine's amendment to prevent the use of military funds or personnel against American citizens exercising their first amendment rights," the statement said.
Kaine introduced the amendment last week after President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy active duty troops to respond to rioting and looting following the police killing of George Floyd.
"Military force should never be used against peaceful protesters. Senate Armed Services Committee just agreed in a strong bipartisan vote," Kaine said after the committee vote.
Peaceful protests against police brutality and racism erupted across the United States after Floyd, an African American man, 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 nearly nine minutes while he was handcuffed and laying on his stomach.
Some of the protests soon turned into riots, complete with violence against police and civilians, and acts of vandalism, arson and looting.
