Some Democratic Governors of the nation’s most populous states of US, has rejected the president’s threat to deploy thousands of military personnels on Gorge Floyd’s protesters.
According to CNN reports, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he doesn’t believe the federal government can send military troops into his state.
He accused the president of creating an “incendiary moment” by threatening to do just that to quell violence that has arisen as demonstrators have taken to the streets in reaction to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“I reject the notion that the federal government can send troops into the state of Illinois,” Pritzker said on CNN after Trump urged governors to deploy the Guard. If they did not, he said he would send in “thousands and thousands” of soldiers.
Pritzker was among the first governors to react to Trump’s comments, which came hours after the president called governors “weak” and urged them to take a more aggressive response to weekend violence.
It came as Americans gathered to protest police brutality against black Americans following the killing of Floyd, who was handcuffed and on the ground pleading for air as a white police officer pressed a knee on his neck for several minutes.
In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has not deployed the state’s National Guard to New York City, although he said earlier Monday the state had 13,000 troops that “we can use at any moment.”
“I say thank you but no thank you,” Cuomo said on CNN about Trump’s call to send military troops to the states.
Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington, who has activated the state’s guard, said in a statement he prays “no soldier and no civilian is injured or killed by this reckless fit.”
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, also a Democrat, said any suggestions the state’s National Guard is ill equipped to handle the states needs is “misinformed.” “As the Commander In Chief of the Nevada National Guard I can state, categorically, that they have done their duty to protect all Nevadans, and will continue to do so.”
In neighboring Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown said the violence is being perpetrated by a small segment of demonstrators. She refused to deploy the National Guard on Sunday at Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s request because she was concerned it would escalate a tense situation.
