'We the People' trumps 'commander-in-chief'

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/02/opinions/trump-military-force-insurrection-act-resistance-suri/index.html

For almost 100 years, this restriction on presidential power gave cover to flagrant violations of federal authority in the South -- including voter suppression, Jim Crow segregation and, worst of all, repeated extrajudicial lynchings, which continued until 1960s. Even as the power of the president grew in the shadow of the Second World War, he had little military reach within the states. Governors and mayors were the heavies; the Constitution set it up that way.

President Trump's threats to deploy the US military to states, despite resistance from governors, are claims of direct authority he does not possess. He is making a political judgment about the protests, and forcing his preferred response on local law enforcement institutions operating in their constitutionally defined spaces.

Citizens should continue to protest peacefully. We have a right to demand justice in our communities, and the US military that we support with taxpayer dollars should stay free of these issues. Our soldiers have plenty of work to do abroad, and this president has nothing to offer our communities but more suffering and hate.

Democracy requires justice and healing in our neighborhoods, not military domination on our streets.