The Pentagon denied claims swirling online surrounding an updated Department of Defense (DOD) document outlining how military intelligence can be shared with local and federal authorities, after multiple sources claimed the directive opened the door to the use of force against civilians before the US election.

“The DOD use of force policies addressed in (the directive) are not new and do not authorize DOD to use lethal force against US citizens or persons inside the United States, contrary to rumors and rhetoric circulating on social media. ” said Department of Defense spokeswoman Sue Gough Newsweek.

“Although the paragraph most referenced on social media is new to this directive, it does not reflect any change in DOD policy regarding the use of lethal force by DOD personnel.”

What is Directive 5240.01?

The Pentagon Directive updated 5240.01, a document setting out how military intelligence could be used by local law enforcement and other US authorities in late September.

The Secretary of Defense may approve “assistance in responding with lethal-potential assets or any situation where it is reasonably foreseeable that the provision of the requested assistance may involve the use of force that could result in lethal force, including death or serious . bodily harm”, in the official wording of the document.

The Seattle Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington then noted that “rumors began to spread across multiple social media platforms and across political communities” surrounding the directive shortly after the update.

The claims were shared by a variety of platforms, including accounts self-described as supporting the former president Donald Trumpaccounts associated with spreading false information and even prominent political voices. Former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who promoted vaccine conspiracy theories, said in a social media post that Directive 5240.01 empowered the Pentagon “for the first time in history — to use lethal force to to kill Americans on US soil who protest against government policies”.

What Has Changed?

The directive does not hand over new powers to the military. The directive is really just a reminder to the Pentagon that if they support law enforcement or police in a scenario where there could be a use of force, that has to be approved by the defense secretary, said Matthew Savill, the director of the military. . sciences at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank in London.

“There are still a number of legal protections around domestic work and this doesn’t take anything away; it is a policy statement, not a change in the law,” Savill said. Newsweek.

This is not a policy change, emphasized Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the Program on Freedom and National Security at the Brennan Center for Justice, a law and policy institute based in Washington, DC. Another directive — 3025.18 — has already been applied to defense intelligence agencies since the Trump administration, just under a broader umbrella.

The substance is “exactly the same,” Goitein said. This has been “the policy for some time,” Goitein said Newsweek. – They were already subject to it.

“It is not an authorization for any kind of action by the intelligence components of the defense, certainly not an authorization to use lethal force,” Goitein added. “It is a procedural restriction on any such operations.”

“There are already situations where the Department of Defense is authorized to provide assistance to civilian civilian forces in situations where there is the potential for lethal force,” including when the military is deployed under the Insurgency Act, Goitein said. This is not an “expansion or diminution” of the current law, Goitein added.

One account said the directive now “includes the legal use of lethal force against civilians by the military, if directed by the DoD (Department of Defense), overriding the Posse Comitatus laws that are supposed to protect us.”

However, Goitein said, “The directive is explicit that none of this assistance can violate the Posse Comitatus Act.” She added that the act generally prohibits the federal military from getting involved in civilian law enforcement in any way, with few exceptions. One of those is the Insurrection Act, but this directive does not expand the Insurrection Act in any way, Goitein said.

“This directive simply confirms, or simply reiterates, existing Department of Defense policy, which the Secretary of Defense must personally sign.”

time

The Pentagon updated the directive in late September, about a month and a half before the U.S. election, citing more accounts it deemed suspicious.

“Speculation about this directive appears to have significant resonance in several communities as the Nov. 5 election approaches,” the University of Washington’s Seattle Center for an Informed Public noted in a recent blog entry .

“The directive simply states that this longstanding policy applies to DOD intelligence components when they provide intelligence assistance to civilian authorities, including law enforcement,” Gough said. Newsweek. “The release was in no way timed in relation to the election or any other event.”

Goitein said the change coming just before the election “probably causes more speculation and concern than there would have been if the same update had been issued a few months ago.” She said the moment was “unfortunate but not significant”.

“But without further context and without a careful reading of the entire directive, you can see how someone would take advantage of those words, deadly force,” Goitein added.