Joint Statement by the American Veterans Committee and Civil Rights Congress
The American Veterans Committee (AVC) and Civil Rights Congress (CRC) resolutely condemn remarks explicitly calling for the death penalty by President Donald Trump’s against his political opponents.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump made grave threats to a handful of congresspeople who, in a video, urged military service members to defy “illegal orders.” Trump responded on social media with “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH” and “…SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???”
The rules for court martial outlined by the Uniform Code of Military Justice state that orders are lawful “unless it is contrary to the Constitution, the laws of the United States, or lawful superior orders or for some other reason is beyond the authority of the official issuing it.”
The Congresspeople involved, who all have military and military intelligence backgrounds, correctly appealed to service members not to violate the Constitutional civil liberties of the American people. This appeal was made in the context of President Donald Trump unilaterally waging war against the American populace. In late September of this year, Trump addressed a room full of generals at Marine Corps Base Quantico where he stated that “We’re gonna straighten them [American cities] out one by one. And this is gonna be a major part for some of the people in this room. That’s a war too. It’s a war from within.”
Trump’s unilateral decision to carry out war against the American people on American soil violates the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 which declared it unlawful for the military to be used as a police force unless authorized by the Constitution or an Act of Congress.
As the Supreme Court is currently taking up the issue of limitations of the President of the United States to deploy the military domestically, American veterans and active service members must apply pressure for the Supreme Court to rule in a way harmonious with the Posse Comitatus Act. It is an extremely dangerous precedent to expand the President’s power to mobilize the military against the United States.
The AVC and CRC echo the appeal for service members to disobey unlawful orders.
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