David Silbey

Professor of Military History and Policy

David Silbey is an associate professor of history at Cornell University, specializing in military history and defense policy. 

Silbey says:

“Active-duty military are restricted from certain law enforcement actions by the Posse Comitatus Act (the National Guard and the Coast Guard are exempt from this) – that  restriction can be lifted if President Trump invokes the Insurrection Act by claiming there is an insurrection going on that the state cannot stop.

“Soldiers aren’t normally trained in law enforcement activities and so there’s always the risk that they use a lot of violence in response to protests or rioting. The obvious result would be people getting killed.”