Trump's Operation Legend begins with people likening boots on the ground to Nazi Gestapo
President Donald Trump has decided to send "a surge" of federal security forces to cities across the US to tame crime in an expansion of Operation Legend and this, inevitably, has caused an outrage. The president has been vocal against the protests in the wake of the brutal death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May and threatened to use the state firepower to quell them. His decision to mobilize the military to take on the protesters faced a backlash from his own administration but now he has targeted cities like Chicago and Albuquerque with the federal police power. The federal government recently came under attack after allegedly unidentified federal agents were found deployed in Portland, Oregon, where strong protests have taken place. But it seems the mercurial president is unfazed.
Law and order situation across the US has deteriorated in the wake of Floyd’s murder and sometimes, protests have turned into civil disorder, prompting the Trump administration to take a strong counter stand. Gun violence has gone up in metropolitan areas like New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Chicago. There have also been instances where protest zones have been set up in urban centers, instigating the president to express his frustration against the local authorities.
Taking a step against the growing disorder, the Trump administration came up with Operation Legend (or LeGend after four-year-old LeGend Taliferro from the colored community who was fatally shot in the face while sleeping at home in Kansas City last month). The child’s mother joined the president while he made the announcement to expand the operation, which was initially meant to tackle crime in Kansas City. Under this, agents from the FBI, Marshals Service and other federal agencies will work with the federal law enforcement, according to the justice department, BBC reported.
No other choice, says Trump
"Today, I’m announcing a surge of federal law enforcement into American communities plagued by violent crime," Trump said on July 22. "In recent weeks, there has been a radical movement to defund, dismantle and dissolve our police departments. Extreme politicians have joined this anti-police crusade and have relentlessly vilified our law enforcement heroes." He said the violence shocked the conscience of the nation and there was no other choice but to get involved. "This bloodshed must end," he said, adding, "This bloodshed will end."
Trump has been battling a number of challenges over the past few months and with his re-election bid just a few months away, the poll numbers have not been encouraging. While the coronavirus pandemic has refused to die down, the race riots have put the president under more pressure.
But the latest decision to expand the police operation in other states has made Trump face more backlash. The social media erupted over the move and #gestapoTrump started trending which likened his administration to the notorious Gestapo — the secret police of Nazi Germany that existed between 1933 and 1945. Trump was accused of running a police state even though Attorney General William Barr assured that the expanded federal law-enforcement operations will be different from the deployment of homeland security department agents to control riots and mob violence in Portland.
Not the first time Trump is being compared to Hitler
This is not the first time that Trump has been compared with the Adolf Hitler-led regime in Nazi Germany.
Trump’s re-election campaign has a new "America First" logo and many saw a similarity between it and the Nazi eagle. The logo, which can be found on T-shirts sold through the campaign website, shows an eagle grasping a circle containing the country’s flag. The eagle has its wing spread and head turned towards its left. The Nazi symbol displays an eagle holding a circle that contains a swastika with its head turned towards its right and wings spread.
Some of the responses on Twitter accused Trump of following the Gestapo’s style of functioning. The Democratic Coalition tweeted, "@realDonaldTrump is desperately hoping that he can provoke conflicts and violence between his secret police and protesters in order to boost his re-election chances — and he's made it clear that no American city is safe from #GestapoTrump."
Filmmaker Chip Franklin said, "At least we don't have a fascist dictator hunting people down with secret police when we can't leave the country." Author John Pavlovitz tweeted, "If we pay attention to History, she reminds us that populations don't become monstrous overnight, that nations don't abandon humanity in a single moment. There is always a pattern. We're seeing it now." Army veteran and former Trump supporter David Weissman said: "Radical President is terrorizing our country. This is unconstitutional and dangerous."
Trump found a defense in Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli who tweeted, "Here is a shield and a couple of gas masks from a rioter arrested in Portland. Not a sign with a slogan that someone expressing their first amendment rights might carry, but preparations for violence. Peaceful protester? I don’t think so."