‘Don’t Ever Tell Law Enforcement to Shoot to Kill Your Own People’
As outrage in response to police killings grows across the country, President Donald Trump has suggested that active-duty military forces are “ready, willing and able” to deploy to Minnesota. Governor Tim Walz activated the state’s National Guard to enforce curfews and quell what he called the “wanton destruction” by the protesters. At least 25 cities across 16 states have imposed curfews as widespread protests continue.
This tense moment calls to mind another. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, survivors searched for food and supplies, and tried to make it out of the flooded city. The national media fixated on scenes of “looting” and repeated rumors of “snipers,” describing New Orleans as a “city under siege.” President George W. Bush considered invoking the Insurrection Act, which gives the president the power to deploy military troops within the United States.
In ’s podcast , host Vann R. Newkirk II tells this story. He says of this moment in 2005: “We were pretty dangerously close to a situation where armed-forces units would shoot civilians for the
