The Intercept - This week, Trump signed an executive order ... laying down a host of authoritarian diktats intended to make police officers more brutal, more loyal to him, and less accountable to anyone other than him...
The thing that ties it all together is a word Trump uses often — “unleash” — and it’s worth delving into. The literal definition is to remove from a restraint. In the context of law enforcement, it conjures images of cops siccing police dogs on suspects or protesters. Metaphorically, we tend to associate the word with starker imagery. We unleash fury, wrath, and retribution. Trump wants to project both.
As for the executive order itself, it is heavy on bluster and short on details, like most of Trump’s orders.
Some of the measures are nonsensical, like “indemnifying” police from damages. (They’re already indemnified by taxpayers in more than 99.9 percent of such cases.) For others, it isn’t clear if he’s referring to federal or state and local police. Trump provides no funding for his demands.
Some would violate the law, such as charging progressive prosecutors for failing to prosecute some crimes to Trump’s satisfaction. Others, like directing law firms to do pro bono work defending cops accused of wrongdoing, are unconstitutional on their own — not to mention that they build on other directives from Trump that courts are also likely to find unconstitutional. Still others would require approval from Congress
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