On September 27, 2024, the Department of Defense (DOD) unceremoniously changed DOD Directive 5240.01, which now supplants the former 2016 version. The additions now authorize the US military to use lethal force against American citizens on American soil. Most of us have never contemplated this reality as we have rightly assumed that our armed forces were designed exclusively to protect us from foreign enemies outside of our borders.
This understanding comes primarily from an old piece of legislation called the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which specifically denies the federal government’s use of the military for any kind of domestic law enforcement. And this law is a good thing; otherwise, we could have US armed forces patrolling the streets in what would be nothing more than third-world dictatorial martial law.
That has all changed by the stroke of a pen of the Biden Administration. The new directive authorizes a military presence in what is termed civil disturbances and exigent circumstances. In the past, the National Guard, which had been the purview of state governments, was called in to keep the peace during riots, looting, and natural disasters. These troops were not expected actually to kill the citizens involved in these altercations but to offer support to over-extended and outmanned local law enforcement agencies, thereby helping to restore some semblance of law and order. But now, you may see a fully uniformed and armed marine or infantryman mowing down US citizens if things get out of hand.
One would have thought we would have learned the lessons of the race riots in the summer of 1967, the Kent State protests in 1970, and the 1992 Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. The military was called in in these cases, and the results were disastrous.
The terms civil disturbances and exigent circumstances seem vague at best, and this directive allows a full 72 hours of engagement from the military without the full authorization of the Secretary of Defense. The head of the Defense Intelligence Component or some other lower-level official could authorize deployment if they have reported this action within a 72-hour window to the Secretary of Defense. This directive appears to be streamlining the process, cutting red tape, and allowing for a rapid response to any domestic disturbances. But a lot of bad things can happen in 72 hours.
The directive establishes rules of engagement (ROE) that stipulate that the military can only use lethal force when there is a direct threat to life or serious injury. However, these terms are up for debate and somewhat ambiguous.
Some questions remain.
- Who gets to determine the level of domestic disturbances or circumstances that will ultimately trigger the use of lethal force? The local government? The governor? The Department of Justice? The Pentagon?
- Will the military force be equally applied in situations that occur in all cities and states, or will it be used indiscriminately to punish certain factions of the population?
- Will Americans still be allowed to gather and protest unfair treatment by the government without the fear of reprisal?
- Does this directive actively and intentionally discourage citizen dissent, intimidating would-be protestors to stay home?
- Does the military have credible intelligence of possible terrorist groups embedded within the population posing as American citizens, and is this the reason for this directive?
After all, we have let in hundreds of thousands of illegal military-aged men through our porous borders over the past four years. But the timing of this directive has everyone on edge especially with a hotly contested presidential election only a few weeks away.
Mainstream predictive programming is already saying that the election will definitely not be decided on election night, which will only build resentment and anger when the winner is finally announced. News anchors and reporters are constantly asking a certain candidate and his political supporters if they will accept the results of the 2024 election before the actual election has even occurred. This is a ridiculous question, given the shenanigans of the 2020 election.
Our country is in a very perilous time as the forces of good and evil are duking it out daily. Please pray for a peaceful and successful election where the party of death and demonic practices is beaten back and the good and faithful citizens of our country are protected from harm without the need for the military.