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| Did you see my op-ed in the Hartford Courant on today? I spoke out, as a former Marine Infantry Officer, legislator, and attorney, about the danger of this moment as Donald Trump unconstitutionally deploys active-duty Marines to Los Angeles — and how we must rise to meet it. Check it out below. |
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“Locate, close with and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver, or repel the enemy assault by fire and close combat.”
That’s the mission of the Marine Corps infantry. And as a Marine Infantry Officer, it’s what I trained my Marines to do. It’s what we were prepared to do as we patrolled the streets and fields of Marja, Afghanistan. |
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Notice what’s not included: any mention of law enforcement, crowd control, or dealing with vandalism or scattered violence by hooligans peripheral to a largely peaceful protest.
And there’s something else unsaid, that was always implied—and that we drilled into our Marines constantly. That the U.S. military’s power must always be restrained by law, ethics, and civilian authority. That unlike militaries in many other countries, we swore an oath not to any leader, tribe, religion, or creed, but to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. That we trained to protect the American people—not to be turned against them.
That principle is now under threat. Donald Trump’s deployment of an active-duty Marine infantry battalion to an American city is illegal, unconstitutional, and deeply dangerous. It’s a deliberate provocation meant to intimidate dissent, tar lawful protest as chaos, and incite clashes that can then be used as a pretext for escalation.
It is not the behavior of a leader safeguarding democracy. It’s the gambit of someone who, failing on policy and flailing politically, is manufacturing a spectacle to maintain or increase his own power.
The law is clear. Under the Posse Comitatus Act, active-duty troops cannot be used for domestic law enforcement without explicit congressional approval or a valid invocation of the Insurrection Act.
None of these conditions exists. There is no national emergency. And just as importantly, when Donald Trump ordered the California National Guard and the Marines into L.A., the situation was calming down. He acted over the objections of local authorities.
I have no doubt that the Marines arriving from Twentynine Palms will conduct themselves with discipline and professionalism. But the simple truth is that they have not been prepared for this mission. They are being thrust involuntarily into a powder keg. Their commander-in-chief is using them as a partisan political prop. This is deeply corrosive to morale.
But this moment isn’t just about the military. It’s about the future of American democracy. Trump wants to suppress peaceful protest and send a message that opposing him means facing the military in the streets. He hopes Americans will be too frightened to speak out—or a small minority will provoke mayhem that gives him an excuse to use military force against protesters. We must prove him wrong.
And we have two powerful tools to do so. The first is litigation. California has already sued the federal government to block involuntary federal military deployments within its borders.
Connecticut has taken steps to prevent our National Guard from being deployed involuntarily. The Courts have a role to ensure that our leaders, and our military, uphold our oath to serve and protect the rule of law.
The other is peaceful protest. It is one of the most powerful tools we have in a democracy. It’s how we express dissent, demand accountability, and affirm our shared values. From the civil rights movement, to anti-war marches, to Black Lives Matter demonstrations, peaceful protest has changed the face of the country and achieved political transformation. It’s not a threat to America—it is America.
Now, more than ever, we must use that power. We must protest—peacefully, bravely, and in large numbers. We must show the American people won’t be intimidated. We must demand that all our elected leaders uphold the rule of law. You can join me and thousands of others at exactly these kinds of protests across the state this Saturday, June 14.
And we must deny Trump the violent confrontation he’s so desperately seeking. We must ensure all understand our service members are not an adversary, but partners equally sworn to defend our democracy and the rule of law.
In other words, we must be patriots. And that’s a mission I know we can accomplish. |
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