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In rare public remarks, Gen Dempsey spoke out against Mr Trump
Another senior former military officer has denounced President Donald Trump’s threat this week to use troops to suppress violent protests in the US.
The ex-Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Gen Martin Dempsey, told National Public Radio that Mr Trump’s remarks were “very troubling” and “dangerous”.
Mr Trump’s current and former defence secretaries have also spoken out.
Mainly peaceful protests have spread across the US since the alleged police murder of an unarmed black man.
While demonstrations over George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last month appear to be simmering down in the nation’s capital, the White House’s security perimeter has kept expanding in recent days.
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“The idea that the president would take charge of the situation using the military was troubling to me,” said Gen Dempsey in rare public remarks on Thursday.
“The idea that the military would be called in to dominate and to suppress what, for the most part, were peaceful protests – admittedly, where some had opportunistically turned them violent – and that the military would somehow come in and calm that situation was very dangerous to me,” he added.
Gen Dempsey served as America’s most senior military officer under former US President Barack Obama from 2011-15.
His criticism comes a day after former Marine Gen Jim Mattis, Mr Trump’s former Pentagon chief, denounced the president, saying he deliberately stokes division.
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James Mattis was President Donald Trump’s first defence secretary – but resigned in 2018
“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people – does not even pretend to try,” Mr Mattis wrote in the Atlantic magazine. “Instead, he tries to divide us.”
Mr Trump hit back via Twitter at the “overrated general”.
Earlier that day, Mr Trump’s current Defence Secretary Mark Esper had also spoken up.
He said the use of active-duty forces to quash unrest across the nation would be unnecessary at this stage, in remarks that are known to have displeased the White House.
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Mr Trump said on Monday from the White House Rose Garden that he would act to disperse violent protesters.
“If a city or a state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents,” he said, “then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.”
While he spoke, authorities used force to disperse a mainly peaceful protest nearby so the president could walk to a historic church that was damaged by fire in the unrest and be photographed holding up a Bible.
The justice department had ordered Lafayette Square, just outside the executive mansion, to be fenced off for Mr Trump’s walkabout.
By Thursday afternoon, that security zone was significantly expanded, with high fencing installed around the park area known as the Ellipse just south of the White House.
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Lisa Murkowski backed the criticism of the president
Also on Thursday, a moderate Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski broke ranks to say she was unsure if she would support Mr Trump’s bid for re-election.
In what is being seen as the most outspoken criticism yet of the president from a senator in his own party, Ms Murkowski told the Washington Post: “I thought Gen Mattis’ words were true and honest and necessary and overdue.”
Shortly afterwards Mr Trump tweeted that he would campaign to throw the Alaska senator out of office when she is up for re-election in 2022.
More on George Floyd’s death
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US protests timeline
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George Floyd dies after being arrested by police outside a shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Footage shows a white officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeling on Mr Floyd’s neck for several minutes while he is pinned to the floor. Mr Floyd is heard repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe”. He is pronounced dead later in hospital.
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Four officers involved in the arrest of George Floyd are fired. Protests begin as the video of the arrest is shared widely on social media. Hundreds of demonstrators take to the streets of Minneapolis and vandalise police cars and the police station with graffiti.
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Protests spread to other cities including Memphis and Los Angeles. In some places, like Portland, Oregon, protesters lie in the road, chanting “I can’t breathe”. Demonstrators again gather around the police station in Minneapolis where the officers involved in George Floyd’s arrest were based and set fire to it. The building is evacuated and police retreat.
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President Trump blames the violence on a lack of leadership in Minneapolis and threatens to send in the National Guard in a tweet. He follows it up in a second tweet with a warning “when the looting starts, the shooting starts”. The second tweet is hidden by Twitter for “glorifying violence”.
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A CNN reporter, Omar Jimenez, is arrested while covering the Minneapolis protest. Mr Jimenez was reporting live when police officers handcuffed him. A few minutes later several of his colleagues are also arrested. They are all later released once they are confirmed to be members of the media.
Derek Chauvin charged with murder
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Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, 44, is charged with murder and manslaughter. The charges carry a combined maximum 35-year sentence.
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Violence spreads across the US on the sixth night of protests. A total of at least five people are reported killed in protests from Indianapolis to Chicago. More than 75 cities have seen protests. At least 4,400 people have been arrested. Curfews are imposed across the US to try to stem the unrest.
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President Trump threatens to send in the military to quell growing civil unrest. He says if cities and states fail to control the protests and “defend their residents” he will deploy the army and “quickly solve the problem for them”. Mr Trump poses in front of a damaged church shortly after police used tear gas to disperse peaceful protesters nearby.
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Tens of thousands of protesters again take to the streets. One of the biggest protests is in George Floyd’s hometown of Houston, Texas. Many defy curfews in several cities, but the demonstrations are largely peaceful.