Posted on 08/14/2014 3:28:55 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) on Thursday called on President Obama to use executive authority and declare martial law in Ferguson, Mo., where protesters have clashed with police after the shooting of an unarmed black teenager.
“My own feeling is right now is President Obama should use the authority of his office to declare martial law,” Lewis said on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports.” “Federalize that Missouri National Guard to protect people as they protest,”
Lewis, an icon of the 1960s civil rights movement, said it is “unreal” to see what the police are doing in Ferguson.
“People have a right to protest. They have a right to dissent. They have a right to march in an orderly peaceful nonviolent fashion,” he said. “Ferguson, Mo., is not the Congo, not China, not Russia. We can do better.”
The Ferguson Police Department is facing criticism after officers armed with military-grade weaponry on Wednesday night cracked down on protesters. The police fired tear gas into crowds and also briefly arrested two reporters from the Huffington Post and Washington Post during the crackdown.
Lewis said the police force operating there in military garb is only further inciting protests, and said the state’s National Guard should be ordered in.
Asked if Obama could unilaterally declare martial law without permission from Gov. Jay Nixon (D-Mo.), Lewis cited President Kennedy’s use of national guardsmen in the 1960s.
In 1961, Lewis said Kennedy federalized the National Guard in Montgomery, Ala., to protect the public during unrest amid the civil rights movement.
“And if it hadn't been for the National Guard, ordered there by President Kennedy, and the U.S. marshals, some of us would have died there that night,” Lewis said.
President Obama spoke about the situation just after Lewis’s interview and urged for “peace and calm” in Ferguson.
Obama made no mention about sending in National Guard troops, but did say he spoke with Gov. Nixon Thursday afternoon. Nixon said he plans to remove the local police force.
Lewis’s colleagues from the Congressional Black Caucus also released an updated statement about the violence Thursday in which one lawmaker said the current police crackdown already amounted to martial law.
“A young, unarmed man was shot by a police officer. A small town is under what is essentially martial law. Tear gas and rubber bullets are being used against everyday citizens,” said Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.). Serious and sweeping civil rights violations may have taken place in Ferguson, Missouri.”
Conyers said removing the St. Louis County Police Department from Ferguson is “an important step towards restoring peace and allowing for an independent, thorough investigation to take place.
“The people of Ferguson deserve nothing less,” he said.
Lewis that is uniquely terrible idea, on e that will inflame the situation further. Lewis you are a total idiot.
A tin pot dictator's dream come true - shoot critics on sight.
Umm, that’s what they want. They want to make this Trayvon X 10, just in time for the mid-term elections.
How does Lewis propose to use these martial powers? He doesn’t seem inclined to use them against the looters & rioters.
I thought everyone was going to live happily ever after?
One of the best things about Obama is that he has completely destroyed the narrative of the Left, and exposed them for who they really are.
Declare martial law ,in other words let the Brothers Trash and Loot the town
so sending in National Guard in military garb is going to change perception? Martial law is the last place we need to go with this.
I think this may well be Obama’s plan. Otherwise, how will he be President for Life?
When did “constitutionality” ever play a role in anything this administration does?
apparently Rep. Lewis (D) has not seen the police and all of their military hardware already in play
I don’t think he has a clue of what martial law is.
Martial law is not to protect protestors, it is to enforce order. During declared martial law, anyone who riots or loots can be shot. Public assemblies are usually banned.
And now, an interesting twist: the SCOTUS has long held that congress is superior to state legislatures, and that federal judges are superior to state judges. But it has *never* found that the POTUS is superior to state governors.
This was Bush’s dilemma during Katrina. He wanted to act and send in FEMA, but the governor of Louisiana just dithered, did nothing, and would not agree to a federal disaster relief. Therefore Bush did not act.
When the governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton’s mentor, Orval Faubus, sent in Arkansas National Guard to *prevent* the segregation of Little Rock High School, President Eisenhower’s only recourse was to activate the 101st Airborne Division to go in there an enforce integration.
That is, he had to use US Army force against the Arkansas National Guard.
The Left said the same for Pres. Bush. Every other day it was a meme about him doing that.
My feeling is that Lewis should be declared incompetent which he is and locked up in the looney bin. He is a disgrace to GA.
Obama doesn’t want to be POTUS now let enough for life.
Protect protesters? What about stop rioters and looters?
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