89 former Defense officials: The military must never be used to violate constitutional rights
President Trump continues to use inflammatory language as many Americans protest the unlawful death of George Floyd and the unjust treatment of black Americans by our justice system. As the protests have grown, so has the intensity of the president’s rhetoric. He has gone so far as to make a shocking promise: to send active-duty members of the U.S. military to “dominate” protesters in cities throughout the country — with or without the consent of local mayors or state governors.
On Monday, the president previewed his approach on the streets of Washington. He had 1,600 troops from around the country transported to the D.C. area, and placed them on alert, as an unnamed Pentagon official put it, “to ensure faster employment if necessary.” As part of the show of force that Trump demanded, military helicopters made low-level passes over peaceful protesters — a military tactic sometimes used to disperse enemy combatants — scattering debris and broken glass among the crowd. He also had a force, including members of the National Guard and federal officers, that used flash-bang grenades, pepper spray and, according to eyewitness accounts, rubber bullets to drive lawful protesters, as well as members of the media and clergy, away from the historic St. John’s Episcopal Church. All so he could hold a politically motivated photo op there with members of his team, including, inappropriately, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Looting and violence are unacceptable acts, and perpetrators should be arrested and duly tried under the law. But as Monday’s actions near the White House demonstrated, those committing such acts are largely on the margins of the vast majority of predominantly peaceful protests. While several past presidents have called on our armed services to provide additional aid to law enforcement in times of national crisis — among them Ulysses S. Grant, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson — these presidents used the military to protect the rights of Americans, not to violate them.
As former leaders in the Defense Department — civilian and military, Republican, Democrat and independent — we all took an oath upon assuming office “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” as did the president and all members of the military, a fact that Gen. Milley pointed out in a recent memorandum to members of the armed forces. We are alarmed at how the president is betraying this oath by threatening to order members of the U.S. military to violate the rights of their fellow Americans.
President Trump has given governors a stark choice: either end the protests that continue to demand equal justice under our laws, or expect that he will send active-duty military units into their states. While the Insurrection Act gives the president the legal authority to do so, this authority has been invoked only in the most extreme conditions when state or local authorities were overwhelmed and were unable to safeguard the rule of law. Historically, as Secretary Esper has pointed out, it has rightly been seen as a tool of last resort.
Beyond being unnecessary, using our military to quell protests across the country would also be unwise. This is not the mission our armed forces signed up for: They signed up to fight our nation’s enemies and to secure — not infringe upon — the rights and freedoms of their fellow Americans. In addition, putting our servicemen and women in the middle of politically charged domestic unrest risks undermining the apolitical nature of the military that is so essential to our democracy. It also risks diminishing Americans’ trust in our military — and thus America’s security — for years to come.
As defense leaders who share a deep commitment to the Constitution, to freedom and justice for all Americans, and to the extraordinary men and women who volunteer to serve and protect our nation, we call on the president to immediately end his plans to send active-duty military personnel into cities as agents of law enforcement, or to employ them or any another military or police forces in ways that undermine the constitutional rights of Americans. The members of our military are always ready to serve in our nation’s defense. But they must never be used to violate the rights of those they are sworn to protect.
Leon E. Panetta, former defense secretary
Chuck Hagel, former defense secretary
Ashton B. Carter, former defense secretary
William S. Cohen, former defense secretary
Sasha Baker, former deputy chief of staff to the defense secretary
Donna Barbisch, retired major general in the U.S. Army
Jeremy Bash, chief of staff to the defense secretary
Jeffrey P. Bialos, former deputy under secretary of defense for industrial affairs
Susanna V. Blume, former deputy chief of staff to the deputy defense secretary
Ian Brzezinski, former deputy assistant defense secretary for Europe and NATO
Gabe Camarillo, former assistant secretary of the Air Force
Kurt M. Campbell, former deputy assistant defense secretary for Asia and the Pacific
Michael Carpenter, former deputy assistant defense secretary for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia
Rebecca Bill Chavez, former deputy assistant defense secretary for Western hemisphere affairs
Derek Chollet, former assistant defense secretary for international security affairs
Dan Christman, retired lieutenant general in the U.S. Army and former assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
James Clapper, former under secretary of defense for intelligence and director of national intelligence
Eliot A. Cohen, former member of planning staff for the defense department and former member of the Defense Policy Board
Erin Conaton, former under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness
John Conger, former principal deputy under secretary of defense
Peter S. Cooke, retired major general of the U.S. Army Reserve
Richard Danzig, former secretary of the U.S. Navy
Janine Davidson, former under secretary of the U.S. Navy
Robert L. Deitz, former general counsel at the National Security Agency
Abraham M. Denmark, former deputy assistant defense secretary for East Asia
Michael B. Donley, former secretary of the U.S. Air Force
John W. Douglass, retired brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force and former assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy
Raymond F. DuBois, former acting under secretary of the U.S. Army
Eric Edelman, former under secretary of defense for policy
Eric Fanning, former secretary of the U.S. Army
Evelyn N. Farkas, former deputy assistant defense secretary for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia
Michèle A. Flournoy, former under secretary of defense for policy
Nelson M. Ford, former under secretary of the U.S. Army
Alice Friend, former principal director for African affairs in the office of the under defense secretary for policy
John A. Gans Jr., former speechwriter for the defense secretary
Sherri Goodman, former deputy under secretary of defense for environmental security
André Gudger, former deputy assistant defense secretary for manufacturing and industrial base policy
Robert Hale, former under secretary of defense and Defense Department comptroller
Michael V. Hayden, retired general in the U.S. Air Force and former director of the National Security Agency and CIA
Mark Hertling, retired lieutenant general in the U.S. Army and former commanding general of U.S. Army Europe
Kathleen H. Hicks, former principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy
Deborah Lee James, former secretary of the U.S. Air Force
John P. Jumper, retired general of the U.S. Air Force and former chief of staff of the Air Force
Colin H. Kahl, former deputy assistant defense secretary for Middle East policy
Mara E. Karlin, former deputy assistant defense secretary for strategy and force development
Frank Kendall, former under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics
Susan Koch, former deputy assistant defense secretary for threat-reduction policy
Ken Krieg, former under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics
J. William Leonard, former deputy assistant defense secretary for security and information operations
Steven J. Lepper, retired major general of the U.S. Air Force
George Little, former Pentagon press secretary
William J. Lynn III, former deputy defense secretary
Ray Mabus, former secretary of the U.S. Navy and former governor of Mississippi
Kelly Magsamen, former principal deputy assistant defense secretary for Asian and Pacific security affairs
Carlos E. Martinez, retired brigadier general of the U.S. Air Force Reserve
Michael McCord, former under secretary of defense and Defense Department comptroller
Chris Mellon, former deputy assistant defense secretary for intelligence
James N. Miller, former under secretary of defense for policy
Edward T. Morehouse Jr., former principal deputy assistant defense secretary and former acting assistant defense secretary for operational energy plans and programs
Jamie Morin, former director of cost assessment and program evaluation at the Defense Department and former acting under secretary of the U.S. Air Force
Jennifer M. O’Connor, former general counsel of the Defense Department
Sean O’Keefe, former secretary of the U.S. Navy
Dave Oliver, former principal deputy under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics
Robert B. Pirie, former under secretary of the U.S. Navy
John Plumb, former acting deputy assistant defense secretary for space policy
Eric Rosenbach, former assistant defense secretary for homeland defense and global security
Deborah Rosenblum, former acting deputy assistant defense secretary for counternarcotics
Todd Rosenblum, acting assistant defense secretary for homeland defense and Americas’ security affairs
Tommy Ross, former deputy assistant defense secretary for security cooperation
Henry J. Schweiter, former deputy assistant defense secretary
David B. Shear, former assistant defense secretary for Asian and Pacific security affairs
Amy E. Searight, former deputy assistant defense secretary for South and Southeast Asia
Vikram J. Singh, former deputy assistant defense secretary for South and Southeast Asia
Julianne Smith, former deputy national security adviser to the vice president and former principal director for Europe and NATO policy
Paula Thornhill, retired brigadier general of the Air Force and former principal director for Near Eastern and South Asian affairs
Jim Townsend, former deputy assistant defense secretary for Europe and NATO policy
Sandy Vershbow, former assistant defense secretary for international security affairs
Michael Vickers, former under secretary of defense for intelligence
Celeste Wallander, former deputy assistant defense secretary for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia
Andrew Weber, former assistant defense secretary for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs
William F. Wechsler, former deputy assistant defense secretary for special operations and combating terrorism
Doug Wilson, former assistant defense secretary for public affairs
Anne A. Witkowsky, former deputy assistant defense secretary for stability and humanitarian affairs
Douglas Wise, former deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency
Daniel P. Woodward, retired brigadier general of the U.S. Air Force
Margaret H. Woodward, retired major general of the U.S. Air Force
Carl Woog, former deputy assistant to the defense secretary for communications
Robert O. Work, former deputy defense secretary
Dov S. Zakheim, former under secretary of defense and Defense Department comptroller
