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Defense Secretary Mark Esper Orders National Guard in D.C. to Disarm, Wear Soft Caps Instead of Helmets
breitbart.com ^
| June 6, 2020
| Kristina Wong
Posted on 06/06/2020 3:32:35 PM PDT by ransomnote
Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Friday ordered National Guard troops in Washington, DC, to disarm and wear soft caps instead of helmets, an official told Breitbart News on Friday afternoon.
The official said the president told Attorney General Bill Barr that he wanted the National Guard to be armed so that they could protect themselves from rioters and looters coming in to the city, but Esper on his own told the D.C. National Guard leadership to take the weapons of National Guardsmen who were coming in from other states.
“He’s not really on board with what the president is trying to do,” the official said.
The official said Esper also on his own directed the National Guard in D.C. to wear soft caps instead of helmets. Breitbart News queried the Pentagon chief spokesman Jonathan Hoffman on Friday afternoon, but he did not respond by deadline.
Photos on social media showed National Guardsmen in D.C. wearing soft caps:
![](https://i.imgur.com/S9kbWU9.png)
[ransomnote: Twitter link]
The National Guard said in response to a query, “Guardsmen supporting the civil disturbance are unarmed.”
The move comes a day before there are expected to be hundreds of thousands of protesters taking part in demonstrations in Washington, DC, on Saturday.
Protests in recent days have been largely peaceful, but the president had fully-activated the National Guard in D.C. and requested help from other states after several days of looting, defacing national monuments, and the burnin of a historic church just one block away from the White House. Dozens of Secret Service agents were also injured. Violence was also engulfing other major cities across the nation.
MORE AT LINK
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: billbarr; districtofcolumbia; esper; jonathanhoffman; markesper; murielbowser; nationalguard; newjersey; ohio; qhats; quehts; sessionshats; trustthehats; washdcriots
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To: ransomnote
Fire him, Mr. President.
L
21
posted on
06/06/2020 3:43:10 PM PDT
by
Lurker
(Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is.)
To: PghBaldy
Appoint someone ACTING Secretary!
22
posted on
06/06/2020 3:43:18 PM PDT
by
alstewartfan
(One day he just washed up on the shores of his regrets. May his soul rest in peace. Al S.)
To: ransomnote
Fire this asshat, and I mean YESTERDAY!
23
posted on
06/06/2020 3:43:19 PM PDT
by
ought-six
(Multiculturalism is national suicide, and political correctness is the cyanide capsule.)
To: ransomnote
My God !....they're throwing and dropping bricks, stones, paving tiles, etc. at and on the heads of military and civilian defenders alike....WHAT'S GOING ON HERE ???
Leni
24
posted on
06/06/2020 3:43:23 PM PDT
by
MinuteGal
(MAGA !!! MAGA !!! MAGA !!!)
To: ransomnote
Esper is daring Trump to fire him. Which means he is completely in on the coup now. Trump should fire his ass regardless. Another piece of garbage deep state operative. I can’t imagine what it must be like for Trump to govern with all these forces aligned against him. But he is a strong leader and we are with him and that’s all he needs.
25
posted on
06/06/2020 3:44:11 PM PDT
by
libh8er
To: ransomnote
I certainly hope he was referring to wearing soft, red MAGA hats!!
To: MinuteGal
27
posted on
06/06/2020 3:45:05 PM PDT
by
Jamestown1630
("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
To: ransomnote
WTH? Has the DS pulled off a successful military coup?
28
posted on
06/06/2020 3:45:07 PM PDT
by
Spirochete
(GOP: Gutless Old Party)
To: ransomnote
In the late 1960’s I was in the Army. We trained for riot control. We were equipped with M14’s and bayonets. We wore helmet liners. If we were going to be deployed, we were going to be allotted a total of four rounds each. There were seven levels or escalation, It was the seventh where we would be ordered to shoot. Otherwise, we trained like Romans moving in formations with fixed bayonets pointed forward. We would not have done well with bricks and Molotov cocktails thrown against us unless we fired live rounds. We would have been better off equipped with short swords and shields. with real helmets.
To: ransomnote
*If* this is true, Esper should be relieved of his command.
Big *If*.
30
posted on
06/06/2020 3:45:11 PM PDT
by
marktwain
(President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
To: ransomnote
If Esper has NO desire to protect the President of the United States and his Administration he can resign NOW
To: Jim Noble
[Other than firing Sally Yates in January 2017, when was the last time he punished insubordination?]
Comey, Comey’s people, Bolton, Bolton’s people, Mattis, Kelly, Tillerson, Tillerson’s people, Cohn and a string of IG’s. Esper would be the latest in a long line of people who resigned before he was fired.
32
posted on
06/06/2020 3:45:20 PM PDT
by
Zhang Fei
(My dad had a Delta 88. That was a car. It was like driving your living room.)
To: ransomnote
Esper has to know that on Monday the “protestors”attacked the U.S.Park Service police with frozen water bottles, bricks and caustic substances and tried to grab a police weapon. That resulted in smoke canisters and pepper balls.
What is he thinking?
33
posted on
06/06/2020 3:45:30 PM PDT
by
amihow
To: ransomnote
Esper needs to take his officially issued sidearm out and eat it. He is participating in an insurrection against the President.
34
posted on
06/06/2020 3:45:41 PM PDT
by
Truth29
To: ransomnote
At BEST capitulation/deescalation. Theres also a sense of using them as pawns - if they ARE attacked the story blows back on BLM and increase public support for real military use.
This might be good cop/bad cop - a very dangerous version of such.
Soft hats tho... py hats?
35
posted on
06/06/2020 3:46:23 PM PDT
by
Skywise
To: ransomnote
He will be a talking head on CNN by the end of the year. And, a book deal.
36
posted on
06/06/2020 3:47:10 PM PDT
by
anton
To: ransomnote
It probably makes sense to have the national guard as backup to the cops.
That way if it comes to shooting, the local cops will have to be the ones doing it.
To: alstewartfan
38
posted on
06/06/2020 3:48:17 PM PDT
by
gcparent
(Justice Brett Kavanaugh)
To: mass55th
39
posted on
06/06/2020 3:48:34 PM PDT
by
tennmountainman
(The Liberals Are Baby Killers)
To: Truth29
Why does Trump hire these people. It’s very frustrating to watch.
40
posted on
06/06/2020 3:49:00 PM PDT
by
hawkaw
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