“Can't you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?” former Defense Secretary Mark Esper quotes Trump saying.
, “These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to [Minnesota] Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts.
Trump reportedly said he wanted police to “beat the f***” out of the protesters, according to Bender, saying “just shoot them” on multiple occasions. When he received pushback from staffers, Trump said, “Well, shoot them in the leg — or maybe the foot. But be hard on them!” While Trump had discussed invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty troops on U.S. soil to contain the protests,, saying at a Pentagon briefing that action “should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said at a June 3 press conference following Esper’s comments that “the Insurrection Act is a tool available. The president has the sole authority and, if needed, he will use it.” Trump never invoked the act, but