ACLU of Nebraska Media Statement on DC Troop Deployment

LINCOLN, Neb. – Today, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen announced that about 200 Nebraska National Guard troops will soon deploy to Washington D.C., despite objections from the city’s mayor and other D.C. government officials.

Since August, thousands of National Guard troops from other states and hundreds of federal agents have been tasked with patrolling the city at President Trump’s direction.

At today’s press event, officials said Nebraska’s troops would be armed and in body armor, serving as part of a joint task force that will focus its presence around federal monuments.

Mindy Rush Chipman, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska, made this statement:

“As someone with military service members in my family, I am deeply troubled to see our governor choose to send Nebraskans away from home as part of an undeniably political operation. First, the Nebraska National Guard’s focus should not be on domestic law enforcement. Military policing of civilians creates legal and ethical jeopardy for troops, risks violations of our rights, and undermines our democracy. Second, there is no question that this federal takeover has only complicated local leaders’ efforts to make their own decisions about public safety in a city that they know best. The bottom line is that Nebraskans want our troops meeting needs here at home and helping neighbors when natural disasters strike, not policing cities over the objections of elected officials.”

A lawsuit brought by D.C.’s Office of the Attorney General to challenge the operation is still working its way through the courts. In November, a district court judge sided with D.C., calling the federal government’s actions “unlawful.” An appeals court panel later ruled the deployment may continue pending another appeals court decision.