Revealed: Trump considered using military 'tanks' and ordered helicopters to blast protesters with their downdraft as hundreds of soldiers armed with BAYONETS are deployed to Washington
President Donald Trump considered using 'tanks' or other armored military vehicles to help restore order in the US after violent protests broke out across the country for a sixth night, defense officials have revealed.
As protests over the death of George Floyd enter their second week, Trump has threatened to deploy active duty military across the country to quell the unrest.
On Monday, law enforcement officials pushed hundreds of protesters out of Washington's Lafayette Park, ahead of the district's 7pm curfew.
A senior White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, revealed on Tuesday that Trump hoped to make the aggressive action in Washington an example for the rest of the country.
Two Pentagon officials also told AP that the president had ordered military aircraft to fly above the capital on Monday night as a 'show of force' against demonstrators.
President Donald J. Trump returns after posing with a bible outside St. John's Episcopal Church after delivering remarks in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington
Many of the protesters stood firm as the helicopters made several passes overhead
Videos posted to Twitter showed demonstrators quaking beneath deafening gusts
They did not say how many or what type of aircraft had been mobilized.
Videos and photographs posted on social media showed helicopters flying low over buildings and hovering just above groups who were on the street despite a district-wide curfew.
Law enforcement paired the tactic with heavy use of tear gas, pellets and chemical spray as protesters marched toward the White House.
Trump's tactics were decried on Tuesday by some fellow Republicans as well as his presumptive Democratic opponent Joe Biden.
Show-of-force missions are designed to intimidate and, in combat zones, warn opposing forces of potential military action if provoked.
Three senior defense officials also told The Daily Beast that the idea of deploying military forces was being pushed by the White House, not the Pentagon.
The sources revealed Trump consulted with aides about using military vehicles or 'the kind of hardware' used by the armed forces, to help bring the chaos under control.
Hundreds of army soldiers armed with bayonets arrived at two military bases near Washington on Tuesday evening (pictured: 82nd Airborne Division soldier holding a bayonet in 2015)
One official said Trump did not specifically order 'tanks' to patrol the streets, but said he mentioned it in discussions because 'I think that is just one of the military words he knows'.
It comes as 700 soldiers dressed in riot gear and armed with bayonets arrived at two military bases near Washington on Tuesday evening, while another 1,400 are preparing to mobilize, as the nation's capital braces for another night of chaos.
Hundreds of members of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division were called earlier after Trump promised a more aggressive approach on the violence and riots unfolding across the country.
Defense officials told AP the US military and National Guard were operating under the mission name 'Operation Themis' - named after the titaness of divine law and order.
Moments after the historic Lafayette Park was cleared of protesters on Monday, Trump walked across to pose with a Bible in front of a church damaged by fire during protests the previous evening.
He hoped his personal walk to the church would send a message about how dominant force could restore law and order, sources said.
Police fired tear gas into protesters in front of St. John's church to clear them out for the president's photo-op
Protesters hold their hands up and try to steady themselves as a military helicopter flies low pushing a strong vertical down wash of air (rotor wash) onto the crowd
'D.C. had no problems last night. Many arrests. Great job done by all. Overwhelming force. Domination,' Trump tweeted Tuesday, after a night in which heavily armed military forces and federal officers swarmed the city.
Trump added: '(thank you President Trump!).'
In an evening address in the Rose Garden on Monday, Trump called on governors to ramp up the National Guard presence in their states to tamp down the protests.
If they didn't abide by those orders, Trump said, he would dispatch the military to their states - a step rarely taken in modern American history.
'SILENT MAJORITY!' Trump tweeted Tuesday, embracing a phrase popularized by President Richard Nixon decades ago, in claiming broad support for his actions. Trump also emphasized the political importance of the moment to his supporters on Twitter and declared that 'My Admin has done more for the Black Community than any President since Abraham Lincoln.'
The District of Columbia's federal status gives the president outsized authority to act, allowing him to direct the deployment of the National Guard.
He authorized Attorney General William Barr to oversee a surge in the deployment of federal law enforcement officers, including the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team and agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sought to distance themselves from Monday night's events after former military officials criticized their appearance with the president.
Senior defense officials told reporters the two were not aware that the Park Police and law enforcement had made a decision to clear the square or that Trump intended to visit the church.
They had been in Washington to coordinate with federal law enforcement officials but were diverted to the White House to brief Trump on military preparations, the officials said.
Revealed: Trump considered using military 'tanks' and ordered helicopters to blast protesters with their downdraft as hundreds of soldiers armed with BAYONETS are deployed to Washington
![Revealed: Trump considered using military 'tanks' and ordered helicopters to blast protesters with their downdraft as hundreds of soldiers armed with BAYONETS are deployed to Washington]()
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June 03, 2020
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