Does the President have authority to send troops to U.S. cities not asking for aid?
President Trump sent federal law enforcement to Portland to respond to racial justice protests and is now threatening to send troops to U.S. cities who are not asking for aid.
Listen 48:55President Trump sent federal law enforcement to Portland to quell protests, but clashes have escalated with federal agents using tear gas and reports of officers without identifying name tags in unmarked vans randomly detaining people. Now, the President is threatening to send federal troops to other cities with democratic mayors, including Philadelphia, to implement the same harsh tactics. This hour, we’ll look at the president’s authority to deploy law enforcement to cities that are not asking for support. We start off with Philadelphia District Attorney LARRY KRASNER who has compared Trump’s threat to fascism and has said he will prosecute federal officers who detain protesters. Then, ELZABETH GOITEIN, codirector of Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty & National Security Program joins us to talk about the president’s action, what it means for American’s civil rights and how this authority has been used in the past.
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