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Warnings from our retired military leaders this week are a signal of how dangerous the situation in our country has become, with the prospects growing for escalated government abuses of power against the people. The stunningly direct rebuke of Donald Trump by his former Secretary of Defense, Gen. James Mattis, is especially striking, given the high esteem in which Mattis is held not only within the military community but also among the general public, both at home and abroad. Military leaders are notoriously reticent, and they rarely, if ever, comment on political matters. That they are speaking out now should alert us to the real peril facing our democracy. We ought to listen. —Evan McMullin
Top Ten

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1. When Mattis talks, people listen And did he ever talk last night. The former defense secretary has kept studiously silent since he resigned in December 2018 over President Trump's Syria policy. Until last night, this is. In an extraordinary broadside, he defended the Americans protesting the mistreatment of African Americans by law enforcement, and excoriated the use of the military against them. He also wrote, "Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children." Preach, General. —The
Atlantic ([link removed])
* — Who are these guys? Unmarked federal law enforcement officers, dressed in paramilitary uniforms and wearing no identifying insignia, have quickly spread among protesters marching through Washington, D.C.'s streets this week. In some locations, they have refused to identify themselves to journalists and protesters who asked which agency sent them, answering only that they worked for the federal government. Some carried rifles, or were equipped with body armor, riot shields, and pepper spray canisters. —Defense One ([link removed])
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* — The House wants answers. Multiple House committee chairs are inquiring about the Trump Administration's decision to use tear gas and rubber bullets to remove peaceful protesters near the White House on Monday. They also want to know who ordered the action, even though the 7 p.m. curfew was still a half-hour away. "We want to be clear: the use of federal personnel to prevent American citizens from exercising their Constitutional right to peaceably assemble represents a direct threat to our democracy," the committee chairs wrote. —Politico ([link removed])
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* — Back off, Boogaloo. Federal prosecutors in Las Vegas have charged three alleged members of the far-right extremist "Boogaloo" movement with multiple state and federal violations of conspiracy to cause destruction. The three men were arrested on Saturday on a state criminal complaint alleging conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism and multiple explosives violations. They were all previously brought to the attention of the FBI by a confidential source. —NBC News ([link removed])
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* — It's about time. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam plans to order the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond, while Mayor Levar Stoney also proposed the removal of additional Confederate monuments from the state capital. "Richmond is no longer the capital of the Confederacy—it is filled with diversity and love for all—and we need to demonstrate that," Stoney said. —The New York Times ([link removed])

More: Ahmaud Arbery was hit with a truck before he died, and his killer allegedly used a racial slur, investigator testifies (CNN) ([link removed])

2. Stevenson: Is this the last straw for the military? "American democracy depends in part on the ingrained commitment of its armed forces to civilian control. But as more and more military leaders—including, publicly, two of General Milley’s predecessors—are coming to recognize, the risk has increased that a president will abuse that control to subvert the very democracy it is meant to uphold." —The New York Times ([link removed])

Ed. Note: Jonathan Stevenson is a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and managing editor of Survival. He served on the National Security Council staff from 2011 to 2013 and as a professor of strategic studies at the U.S. Naval War College.

More: Service chiefs acknowledge racism in the ranks, pledge dialogue, change (Defense One) ([link removed])

3. Qualified immunity comes under fire In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that government officials were entitled to "qualified immunity" from civil rights lawsuits if their actions didn't violate "clearly established" rights. Holding police officers accountable for fatal actions has proven difficult due to this narrow legal rule. But on Sunday, Rep. Justin Amash proposed the End Qualified Immunity Act, which would eliminate a "permanent procedural roadblock for plaintiffs" that thwarts them from "obtaining damages for having their rights violated." —Forbes ([link removed])
* — Senate also reconsidering the law. Sen. Ed Markey announced yesterday that he, along with Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, will introduce a resolution calling for the elimination of qualified immunity. "Law enforcement relies on qualified immunity to shield officers from accountability for instances of police brutality and excessive force," Markey tweeted. "In our culture of systemic racism, it is one of the foremost tools of oppression. Qualified immunity must be immediately eliminated." —The Hill ([link removed])
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— SCOTUS to revisit qualified immunity. The Supreme Court is taking another look at the doctrine today as well. In light of recent cases of police misconduct, several legal scholars have suggested the court may redefine the law to scale back some protections for law enforcement. —ABC News ([link removed])
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* — The House Judiciary Committee is working with the Congressional Black Caucus to determine the best path forward to combat police brutality and racial inequality. In addition to ending qualified immunity, a proposed police reform package would include additional measures: a federal "use-of-force" standard for police officers; a ban on chokeholds or other aggressive restraint techniques; and a national database of police officers fired for misconduct or other offenses. —Politico ([link removed])

4. Press freedoms under attack Attacks on journalists and other violations of press freedom have been on the rise in recent weeks, according to the Freedom of the Press Foundation. The uptick in violations comes as more reporters cover the growing number of protests nationwide over the murder of George Floyd. ([link removed])
* — More than 190 claims of violations against the freedom of the press were reported to the FPF through its U.S. Press Freedom Tracker since Friday. The tracker normally sees about 100-150 claims of violations every year. ([link removed])
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* — "It's a scale that we have not seen before. It's unprecedented in scope without a doubt... We do know that protests are incredibly dangerous places for journalists. Our data shows that across all the years," said Kirstin McCudden, managing editor of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. ([link removed])
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— One of the most striking incidents of press freedom violations came when an entire CNN crew was arrested while on the air in Minneapolis on Friday. Experts note this trend and have found that many of the violations of freedom of the press have come even after members of the press have identified themselves. —TIME ([link removed])

More: Graham: I am a journalist who was arrested for doing my job (Richmond County Daily Journal) ([link removed])

5. Niehoff: Stop reflexively blaming 'the media' ([link removed])

"Blaming 'the media' is...sloppy thinking. Which media entity do you mean? What are you blaming them for? Why do you think it's their fault? If someone can answer those questions, then a sensible conversation can ensue. Indeed, we should have informed debates about whether a particular broadcast was biased or a specific article was accurate. But when we descend to generalized accusations against the media, we no longer have any idea what we're talking about. The bigger problem, though, is that talking about the media makes scapegoating extremely easy. Precisely because we don't know who 'the media' are, we can blame them for everything, like a child who attributes anything that goes wrong to his imaginary friend. And that's dangerous because real human beings pay the cost for that fantasy." —The Detroit News ([link removed])

Ed. Note: Len Niehoff is a professor at the University of Michigan Law School.
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6. Remember the coronavirus? It hasn't gone away Though the nation's attention has been diverted by protests and unrest over the past week, the coronavirus hasn't gone anywhere. As of last night, there were 1,851,520 cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. (an increase of 19,699 from Tuesday) and 107,175 deaths attributed to the virus (an increase of 995 from Tuesday). Health experts worry our collective distraction could make it worse. —Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Dashboard ([link removed])
* — Coronavirus testing sites forced to close. Health officials are also concerned because 70 Community-Based Testing Sites across the country have had to close because of destruction from civil unrest. Most of the testing locations were chosen by the Department of Health and Human Services because they are in "socially vulnerable" neighborhoods. —The Washington Post ([link removed])
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* — Increase in cases in the South and West. As the numbers begin to decline in areas where the outbreak struck the hardest first, such as New York and New Jersey, cases are on the rise over the last few weeks in inland states, including Arkansas, Texas, and Arizona. —CNN ([link removed])
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* — On the economic side of the pandemic crisis, the Senate unanimously passed a bill last night that would fix the Paycheck Protection Program, which provides direct relief to small businesses. The bill would give businesses more time to use loan money beyond the initial eight-week timeline and still qualify for loan forgiveness. It would also expand how much of it would have to be spent on payroll costs. —NBC News ([link removed])

More: Man behind Sweden's controversial virus strategy admits mistakes (Bloomberg) ([link removed])

7. Cassidy: The coming threat to democracy "At this stage...the question is whether [former Vice President Joe] Biden will get the opportunity to succeed Trump in a free and fair election. Not so long ago, raising this question may have been dismissed as alarmist. Over the past three and a half years, many people, myself included, had reassured themselves that Trump's bumbling and lack of focus served to contain some of his authoritarian instincts. But his response to the protests of George Floyd's killing has brought back to the fore the warnings about 'democratic erosion' that a number of political scientists issued immediately after his election, in 2016." —The New Yorker ([link removed])

8. Senate holds hearing on Trump-Russia probe The Senate Judiciary Committee held its first hearing yesterday in its investigation of the FBI probe targeting links between the Trump campaign and Russia. During his testimony, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein defended his decision to appoint Robert Mueller as special counsel, but testified that he would not have signed an application to renew a wiretap on former Trump adviser Carter Page if he had known that it contained factual errors and omissions. ([link removed])
* — The hearing represents a long-held desire by President Trump and his allies to investigate the origins of the Russia investigation. They believe such a probe will reveal misconduct or illegal action on the part of the investigators, unfairly targeting the Trump campaign. ([link removed])
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* — It was the first Senate investigative hearing in months, coming as the country is undergoing serious health, economic, and social crises in recent weeks. It is unclear if the Senate will hold any hearings soon on the government's response to the coronavirus or the protests over the murder of George Floyd. ([link removed])
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* — "I just do not understand why we as a committee are focusing on things that further deepen the discords of partisan posturing in America. I might be missing something, but to me we are in a pandemic like we have not seen since 1918, an economic crisis like we have not seen since the Depression, and uprisings across America like we have not seen since 1968," said Sen. Cory Booker. —The New York Times ([link removed])

More: Senate panel approves legislation requiring campaigns to report foreign election help (CNN) ([link removed])

9. Applebaum: History will judge the complicit "In due course, historians will write the story of our era and draw lessons from it, just as we write the history of the 1930s, or of the 1940s. The Miłoszes and the Hoffmanns of the future will make their judgments with the clarity of hindsight. They will see, more clearly than we can, the path that led the U.S. into a historic loss of international influence, into economic catastrophe, into political chaos of a kind we haven’t experienced since the years leading up to the Civil War. Then maybe [Sen. Lindsey] Graham—along with Pence, Pompeo, McConnell, and a whole host of lesser figures—will understand what he has enabled." —The Atlantic ([link removed])

More: Boot: The entire Republican Party is complicit in the assault on Lafayette Square (The Washington Post) ([link removed])

10. An American Story: The cure for a ruff day Ezra, a four-year-old Golden Retriever, works as a comfort dog at Lutheran Church Charities in Toledo, Ohio, to help victims of crime. While the pandemic has hindered Ezra's work, he is still finding ways to virtually connect with people all over the country, including many working on the frontlines. ([link removed])
* — "At first, he didn't get it. He would hear people but he couldn't figure out where they were. He has gotten a lot better with that. Now he'll sit, stare at the screen, and focus," said Nancy Borders, one of Ezra's caregivers. ([link removed])
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* — As well as helping victims of crime, who are frequently children, Ezra also provides comfort to victims during interviews and trials. ([link removed])
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* — Ezra frequents the courthouse, local nursing homes, and hospitals. His handlers hope he will be able to return to the courthouse later this month. Good boy, Ezra! —ABC News ([link removed])

Ed. Note: We are spotlighting ways that Americans are helping each other through the coronavirus crisis and recent unrest. Would you like to suggest an "American Story" from your local news? If so, please forward a link to the story to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) . Thank you!
What's Your Take?

I witnessed firsthand yesterday evening the density and diversity of security personnel stationed throughout our nation's capital in support of the president's vow to "dominate" protesters. The only consistent element was the National Guard units in regular uniforms with ID patches, rank indicators, and unit insignia. Capitol Police were easily identified as well, but there were enormous numbers of "irregulars" wearing combat helmets and body armor but with no visible identifying markings. It looked like a mall ninja convention.

For reference, see here:
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News outlets say that President Trump has pulled in law enforcement officers from across the spectrum of federal agencies, so presumably that's who I saw, but we should all be deeply alarmed by this because it has the potential to go disastrously wrong.

On the one hand: with no way to identify individual officers, accountability is severely limited. If a BOP officer accustomed to handling hardened convicts beats up my 120-lb. daughter, how are we to identify who he was and prosecute him?

On the other hand: since they have no official identifiers proclaiming them to be law enforcement officers, anyone can dress up in combat gear and pass themselves off as a federal officer. If you don't have a badge or patch claiming you're an officer, and don't say you're an officer, it's not a crime.

We've already got a multitude of documented incidents of violent agitators infiltrating peaceful protests to create chaos. We've seen "protesters" turn out with guns and body armor to oppose COVID-19 restrictions. Now Trump has set the stage for anyone in combat gear to be able to blend in with law enforcement officers and turn peaceful protests violent.

There's a small but determined minority of modern anarchists and other self-styled revolutionaries lurking in the dark corners of the Internet (search for "boogaloo"/"big Igloo"/"Big Luau" to learn more) who are looking for an opportunity to start a civil war. I fear that the president has just served one up on a golden platter.

I urge all of us to contact our elected representatives and demand emergency legislation requiring that federal officers on-duty in public bear conspicuous identification of their agency and badge number. —Mike A., Maryland

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