DoD Claims Authority to Kill Americans
New Directive Violates 1878 Posse Comitatus Act
This is short and to the point.
The Defense Department quietly claimed it has a new authority that has been outlawed for nearly 150 years. The Pentagon claims that at the Defense Secretary’s direction, the military may use lethal force against US citizens here in America.
In an update to Department of Defense Directive 5240.10 (Subj: DoD Intelligence and Intelligence-Related Activities and Defense Intelligence Component Assistance to Law Enforcement Agencies and Other Civil Authorities) dated September 27, 2024, the document states:
“Assistance in responding with assets with potential for lethality, or any situation in which it is reasonably foreseeable that providing the requested assistance may involve the use of force that is likely to result in lethal force, including death or serious bodily injury. It also includes all support to civilian law enforcement officials in situations where a confrontation between civilian law enforcement and civilian individuals or groups is reasonably anticipated. [emphasis added].”
The DoD directive claims authority is granted in Presidential Executive Order 12333, which states, in part:
“Elements of the Intelligence Community are authorized to … participate in law enforcement activities to investigate or prevent clandestine intelligence activities by foreign powers, or international terrorist or narcotics activities[.]”
The executive order, which permits the defense intelligence community to share intelligence with law enforcement regarding threats from foreign agents, terrorists or drug cartels somehow morphs into permission to use deadly force against Americans.
Neither the Secretary of Defense (currently Lloyd Austin) nor the President has the authority to direct the military to kill US citizens. The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 (federal law 18 U.S.C. § 1385) expressly prohibits the military from being used against citizens, unless specifically approved by Congress. That law was enacted due to military abuses against the citizenry during Reconstruction.
Draw your own conclusion what this means and the timing of the claimed new authority of the Defense Sectary to order deadly force against citizens. This new directive was issued less than six weeks before the presidential election on November 5th.
Maybe it’s all coincidental. Maybe it’s not.
Mark Hyman is an Emmy award-winning investigative journalist. Follow him on Twitter, Gettr, Parler, and Mastodon.world at @markhyman, and on Truth Social at @markhyman81.
His books Washington Babylon: From George Washington to Donald Trump, Scandals That Rocked the Nation and Pardongate: How Bill and Hillary Clinton and their Brothers Profited from Pardons are on sale now (here and here).
What about the Insurrection Act? The Posse Comitatus Act and the Insurrection Act serve different functions and one doesn't supersede the other. The Posse Comitatus Act is about limiting military involvement in domestic law enforcement. The Insurrection Act, on the other hand, provides exceptions allowing the president to deploy the military in certain domestic situations, like when civil unrest goes beyond what local authorities can handle. Essentially, the Insurrection Act is like a legal bypass for the Posse Comitatus Act when situations escalate.