A New Petition Tells the Defense Secretary and Joint Chiefs of Staff:
Refuse Any Order by Trump to Interfere with the Election
The petition by Courage to Resist, RootsAction, Veterans For Peace, and others reads in full:
To: Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and the Joint Chiefs of Staff
You have a legal, constitutional, and moral responsibility to refuse to comply with any and all attempts by President Trump to interfere with the 2020 presidential election.
The petition has the support (and many additional supportive comments that can be read online) of approximately 15,000 signers plus World BEYOND War, Watchdog.net, The Nation, Progressive Democrats of America, and Demand Progress.
“Since 2006, we’ve encouraged the troops to do the right thing and refuse illegal and unjust orders,” shared Courage to Resist director Jeff Paterson. “Now, we’re challenging the top brass to do the same.”
“President Trump has made it clear that he will not accept losing the election,” said RootsAction national director Norman Solomon. “As commander in chief at the top of the chain of command, he could make use of the military, not just the courts, to sabotage the vote counting and aim for what would amount to a coup.”
“Trump is already encouraging violence by his supporters,” warned RootsAction cofounder Jeff Cohen. “The public very much needs media outlets and prominent officials, including the Secretary of Defense, to state clearly that the president’s use of the military to interfere in the election will not be tolerated.”
Sign the Petition
“In a society like the US where virtually every foreign intervention, everywhere, is grotesquely illegal and criminal, the most effective resistance is from the soldiers themselves…”
I don’t think we’re going to have to worry about Trump calling out the troops to harass the demonstrators. He’s on his way out, and right now his only concern is himself. .