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Biden Denounces President Trump's Mobilization of Military Resources to Quell
Protests

Steve Herman

   WASHINGTON - Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has expressed concern
   "for the very soul of our country"afterPresident Donald Trump vowed
   Monday to use the military to end "the riots and lawlessness" that have
   broken out across the United States in the aftermath of the death of a
   black man who died in police custody one week ago in Minneapolis.

   In a nationally televised address in the White House Rose Garden, the
   president warned that "if a city or state refuses to take the actions
   necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I
   will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem
   for them."

   The comment was an apparent reference to the 1807 Insurrection Act,
   which allows presidents to quell lawlessness during emergencies. The
   law was most recently used in 1992 amid rioting in Los Angeles after
   another African-American man, Rodney King, was beaten by police.

   Trump said he was "mobilizing all available federal resources, civilian
   and military, to stop the rioting and looting, to end the destruction
   and arson, and to protect the rights of law-abiding Americans,
   including your Second Amendment rights." The Second Amendment of the
   U.S.Constitutionprotects the rights of all American citizens to own
   firearms.

   Just before the president spoke, reporters awaiting his remarks in the
   Rose Garden could hear loud explosions from volleys of tear gas fired
   around Lafayette Park, where riot police holding shields aloft pushed
   back peaceful demonstrators. Rubber bullets were also fired, and police
   on horseback were brought in to clear the area.

   The movement by law enforcement came less than a half-hour before a 7
   p.m. curfew went into effect for Washington.

   The action cleared the way -- but not the smell of the tear gas --
   around St. John's Church, a block north of the White House, to which
   Trump walked just minutes after the curfew went into effect. The
   historic Episcopal Church, known in Washington as "the church of the
   presidents," suffered minor damage Sunday evening when a small fire was
   set in its basement.

   In front of the boarded-up church, Trump held up a Bible, referred to
   the United States as the "greatest country in the world," and said,
   "we're going to keep it safe."

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