Donald Trump may have violated international law by teargassing American citizens so he could walk over to a church for a photo-op, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
While delivering remarks in which he threatened to unleash the military against American citizens protesting police brutality and racial injustice, the police and military were busy using tear gas, flash bangs and rubber bullets against protesters outside the White House to clear a path for Trump to walk to the St. John’s Episcopal Church for a photo-op.
The protesters did nothing to warrant the use of such force and were merely exercising their constitutional rights.
As it turns out, tear gas is a chemical weapon, which means Trump may have violated international law by using it against the protesters.
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That’s why the ACLU called for an immediate investigation.
This appears to be grossly unjustified use of a chemical weapon on protesters and raises serious human rights concerns under international law.
Elected officials, including Congress, must investigate this politically-motivated, life-threatening use of indiscriminate weapons. https://t.co/eTAJ5cdecb
— ACLU (@ACLU) June 2, 2020
International law does prohibit the use of chemical weapons against civilian populations. This is the kind of thing we normally see from dictators in other parts of the world such as Syria.
How can the United States condemn authoritarian regimes for human rights abuses when Trump is hypocritically violating the human rights of American citizens? It severely undermines American values and any leverage we may have had to stop human rights violations abroad.
The Department of Justice could investigate, but Attorney General Bill Barr is nothing more than a Trump lackey. And we certainly can’t expect Senate Republicans to do it. And even if the House investigates and finds wrongdoing, the Senate won’t act. This should be investigated by the International Criminal Court at The Hague. And once Trump is out of office, he should be made to stand trial there and answer for his crimes against humanity.
Featured image via screen capture
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