As Donald Trump floats expanding his authoritarian military crackdown to liberal-led cities beyond the nation’s capital, troops deployed to carry out his anti-democratic schemes might be at risk of prosecution themselves — and the pardon-happy president may not be able to save them.
Thus far, by my count, two Democrats in states that may find themselves targeted have vowed to spur local or state prosecutions — which couldn’t be overturned with a presidential pardon — for anyone who violate residents’ rights if and when the Trump administration expands its troop deployment.
You can delay justice for a time, but history shows you cannot prevent it from finding you eventually.
Illinois gov. jB pritzker
Earlier this week, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker gave an explicit warning to troops deployed by Trump, basically saying he’d stop at nothing to make sure that those who “hurt my people” will “face justice under our constitutional rule of law.”
“You can delay justice for a time, but history shows you cannot prevent it from finding you eventually,” he said.
The following excerpt, from the closing portion of Pritzker’s speech, is worth a read in full: Finally, to the Trump administration officials who are complicit in this scheme, to the public servants who have forsaken their oath to the Constitution to serve the petty whims of an arrogant little man, to any federal official who would come to Chicago and try to incite my people into violence as a pretext for something darker and more dangerous: We are watching, and we are taking names. This country has survived darker periods than the one that we are going through right now, and eventually the pendulum will swing back — maybe even next year. Donald Trump has already shown himself to have little regard for the many acolytes that he has encouraged to commit crimes on his behalf. You can delay justice for a time, but history shows you cannot prevent it from finding you eventually. If you hurt my people, nothing will stop me, not time or political circumstance, from making sure that you face justice under our constitutional rule of law. As Dr. King once said, ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.’ Humbly I would add, it doesn’t bend on its own. History tells us we often have to apply force needed to make sure that the arc gets where it needs to go. This is one of those times. In a recent appearance on CNN, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner openly threatened to bring charges against any National Guard member who commits a crime in his city. On Wednesday, he shared the video on social media with a straightforward caption: Let’s be clear: if the National Guard comes to Philadelphia and commits crimes, they will be prosecuted locally and Donald Trump cannot pardon them. Though America’s president and wannabe king seems intent on using U.S. troops as toy soldiers to intimidate the masses, these threats of prosecution — and the possibility that the Trump administration might not be able to shield them from accountability — could deter at least some troops from engaging in the flagrantly oppressive behavior many people fear they could commit at the president’s direction. Thus far, by my count, two Democrats in states that may find themselves targeted have vowed to spur local or state prosecutions — which couldn’t be overturned with a presidential pardon — for anyone who violate residents’ rights if and when the Trump administration expands its troop deployment.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.
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