Migrant Caravan: Trump Suggests Immigrants Could be Shot if They Throw Rocks at Military
November 2nd, 2018Update: Trump Backtracks on Suggestion U.S. Troops Could Fire on Migrants
The U.S. could choose from a vast arsenal of nonlethal weaponry (including sonic and directed energy weapons) to use in this situation if necessary. I didn’t understand Trump’s decision to escalate to a lethal response right away.
In any event…
Via: Reuters:
President Donald Trump on Friday backtracked from his suggestion a day earlier that American troops sent to the U.S. border with Mexico would be free to fire on migrants who throw rocks at them, saying that rock-throwers would only be arrested.
“They won’t have to fire. What I don’t want is I don’t want these people throwing rocks,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “If they do that with us, they’re going to be arrested for a long time.”
—
Via: USA Today:
President Donald Trump said members of the U.S. military sent to the southern border to keep out thousands in a migrant caravan would “fight back” if immigrants throw stones and suggested soldiers might open fire on the group because there’s “not much difference” between a rock or gun.
In an address from the White House Thursday, just days before the midterm elections, Trump announced his administration was preparing to change the country’s asylum practices and took on the thousands of migrants fleeing the dangers in Central America and heading toward the U.S. in hopes of claiming asylum.
He pointed to reports of a clash between authorities and the caravan as they moved across the Guatemalan border to Mexico. Mexico authorities said migrants attacked its agents with rocks, glass bottles and fireworks when they broke through a gate on the Mexican end but were pushed back, according to the Associated Press. It’s unclear whether any Mexican authorities were injured but Guatemalan officers were hurt.
Trump said the U.S. military wouldn’t accept bottles or stones being thrown at them.
“They want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back,” the president told reporters. “I told them to consider it a rifle. When they throw rocks like what they did to the Mexican military and police I say consider it a rifle.”
I think Trump is just locked into the habit of throwing “red meat” to his Flyover Country working-class base.
I was working up a bloated commentary about how the lethal force thing was a very, very bad move in this situation, while wondering if Trump was too stupid to see this, and/or if he was taking advice from someone who wants this to look bad for the U.S.
But…
You might have hit the nail on the head.