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June 4, 2020

Pentagon Chief Reverses Decision to Withdraw Troops from D.C. Amid Protests
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At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Mark Esper broke with President Trump
and said active-duty military troops should not be deployed to quell the
ongoing protests.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper: "The option to use active-duty forces in a
law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and
only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of
those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act."

Esper said he also regretted urging governors on Monday to "dominate the
battlespace" when dealing with protests. Early on Wednesday, Esper
ordered the removal of some 200 active-duty soldiers with the 82nd
Airborne who were deployed to Washington, D.C., but then reversed the
pullout after what has been described as an angry meeting at the White
House.

Meanwhile, President Trump's former Pentagon chief James Mattis
denounced Trump's militarized handling of the protests. Mattis wrote,
"Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to
unite the American people - does not even pretend to try. Instead, he
tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of
this deliberate effort."


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