WTF, 22 US soldiers used to patrol streets in Alabama?

[Wagner]

COMPLETELY ILLEGAL. These were not National Guard forces, but US Army active duty soldiers. Nobody is claiming responsibility, everyone is questioning it. Constitutionally this carries a 2 year prison term.

Who sent soldiers into an Alabama town last week? - On Deadline - USATODAY.com


Wonder why everyone isn't covering this??????

[Werewolf]

What happens in Alabama, stays in Alabama.

Weird at least they were MPs not infantry

[vegasX5]

Originally Posted by Wagner

COMPLETELY ILLEGAL. These were not National Guard forces, but US Army active duty soldiers. Nobody is claiming responsibility, everyone is questioning it. Constitutionally this carries a 2 year prison term.

Wow I had no idea this was illegal! Who is the prison term for - the soldiers or the people who deployed them?? It seems like it shouldn't be hard to find out who authorized them to be there but I'll bet it will take a lot of digging and cutting through red tape getting to the bottom of it!

[Wagner]

Originally Posted by vegasX5

Wow I had no idea this was illegal! Who is the prison term for - the soldiers or the people who deployed them?? It seems like it shouldn't be hard to find out who authorized them to be there but I'll bet it will take a lot of digging and cutting through red tape getting to the bottom of it!

You had no idea it was illegal to deploy US soldiers as police forces in states?

Look up post-reconstruction. Been a law since 1878. I'd imagine punishment is for the person who dictated the deployment, however officers take an oath to defend the constitution...

"I, _____ (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God." (DA Form 71, 1 August 1959, for officers.)

http://www.history.army.mil/faq/oaths.htm

Posse Comitatus Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[vegasX5]

Originally Posted by Wagner

You had no idea it was illegal to deploy US soldiers as police forces in states?

Look up post-reconstruction. Been a law since 1878.

Posse Comitatus Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I guess I didn't realize this would apply to military police in what would be considered a relative state of emergency in a place where more enforcement resources were lacking. I can't imagine the people who authorized it were not aware of the illegality of it and I also can't imagine why the Army would not have known about it at the time it occurred and/or prohibited it if it was in violation of the law?

[motordavid]

Good info & posts, BigR...
maybe they were looking for some of the execs that left AIG
after they had copped their "retention bonuses".

[Wagner]

Originally Posted by motordavid

Good info & posts, BigR...
maybe they were looking for some of the execs that left AIG
after they had copped their "retention bonuses".

This going unnoticed completely reminds me of George Carlin...."..nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care.."

[djbock]

Actually if it was declared a National Defense Area this would be allowed. But I do no see the need for it in this case as it did not involve federal/military assets.

[Wagner]

Originally Posted by djbock

Actually if it was declared a National Defense Area this would be allowed. But I do no see the need for it in this case as it did not involve federal/military assets.

what....troops are a military asset, so were the weapons they carried, the uniforms they had and the mode by which they go there

[lo_jack]

Originally Posted by vegasX5

I guess I didn't realize this would apply to military police in what would be considered a relative state of emergency in a place where more enforcement resources were lacking. I can't imagine the people who authorized it were not aware of the illegality of it and I also can't imagine why the Army would not have known about it at the time it occurred and/or prohibited it if it was in violation of the law?

There are procedures in place to deploy federal troops to a STATE if needed. You cannot imagine that one of the main tenets of the Constitution never occurred to someone who is likely a career military person? That document was designed specifically to keep federal powers from overwhelming the states and the people in them, particulary with military force. Of course someone knew about it. You can't pull a 22 person detail from one place to another without a trail of orders.