Bengs: Dangerous rhetoric by President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Noem undermines rule of law
Brian Bengs, an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate, retired U.S. Air Force JAG and former U.S. Air Force Academy, NATO School, and International Institute of Humanitarian Law instructor, issued a strong statement in response to recent alarming rhetoric from President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem regarding the use of military force in American cities:
“Recent events have me deeply worried about our Constitution and the values of self-government and individual rights. President Trump’s language in a speech to soldiers at Fort Bragg regarding use of force to ‘liberate’ Los Angeles was echoed in Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s declaration that U.S. Marines and federalized National Guard forces in Los Angeles ‘[Are] not going away. [They are] staying there to liberate the city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into the city.’”
Continuing his statement, Bengs said, “in contrast, upon sending 1,000 Army paratroopers to Little Rock, Ark., in 1957 in support of school desegregation, President Eisenhower, a revered Army commander who understood the use of military forces far better than anyone in the Trump administration, shared his rationale with Americans. “[Eisenhower] stated that ‘the maintenance of peace and order in each of our states are strictly local affairs and the federal government does not interfere except in a very few special cases and when requested by one of the several states. The proper use of the powers of the Executive Branch … is limited to extraordinary and compelling circumstances. This challenge must be met with such measures as will preserve to the people as a whole their lawfully-protected rights in a climate permitting their free and fair exercise.
Bengs said one word in particular caught his attention.
“Speaking as a former law of war professor, the language of ‘liberation’ is military occupation terminology,” said Bengs. “Deploying military personnel to an American city is extraordinarily serious and no time for partisan political theater. I strongly urge South Dakota’s senators to speak out against the maltreatment of their colleague Senator Alex Padilla and for the rule of law in America because silence is support.”
Brian Bengs is an enlisted U.S. Navy veteran and retired U.S. Air Force officer. He has lived and worked all over the U.S. and the world but now calls Aberdeen home. He previously taught an array of law and policy topics at the U.S. Air Force Academy, International Institute of Humanitarian Law, NATO School Oberammergau, and Northern State University. Bengs was the 2022 Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate and is running as an independent in the 2026 campaign.
Photo: public domain, wikimedia commons
The South Dakota Standard is offered freely and is supported by our readers. We have no political or commercial sponsorship. If you'd like to help us continue our mission to advance independent political and social commentary, you can do so by clicking on the "Donate" button that's on the sidebar to your right.
