Steve Schmidt: "This is an urgent matter. This is not ok in America. We do not have secret police"

[Dennis Donovan]

Link to tweet

Steve Schmidt ✔@SteveSchmidtSES

Who are these men ? What Law Enforcement agency are they with? Where are the badges, insignia, and names? Many of them are obese and unfit. The facial hair is unusual for Federal Officers. This is an urgent matter. This is not ok in America. We do not have secret police here

Ben Davis @bdaviskc

Completely unmarked officers in riot gear holding protesters blocks away from the White House. No badges. No insignias. No name tags. Nothing. Refused to tell us who they’re with. #DCprotest #DCprotests

Embedded video

11:40 AM - Jun 6, 2020

We need to ID these people immediately!

[malaise]

1. They are MAGATs

plain and simple

[ProudMNDemocrat]

2. I think it is obvious who Steve Schmidt IS NOT voting for....

He made that loud and clear to Joy Reid last night regarding a segment about Lisa Murkowski's "struggle". Steve Schmidt laid out her answer for her.

[calimary]

40. It's about time. He and others in the GOP BUILT THIS.

He's doing his best to make amends by now. By NOW. But where was he a few years ago when he was lacerating Dems and using that sharp tongue and that shrewd language and those powerful phrasings - AGAINST our side? When he was so smug and uttered such juicy and cocky and pointed smackdowns?

ALL OF 'EM.

The Steve Schmidts and the Rick Wilsons and the David Jollys and the other "recovering republi-CONS" who can't stomach being part of that fucked up group of "true believers" anymore. They may not like it now, but they helped build it. They laid the groundwork.

You just wait - after trump is gone, I suspect many of them will go right straight back to the "old ways" and be proud full-on GOP again. In a way, they're a lot like donald, who cares only about how whatever-it-is makes him look. They realize that having anything to do with the "party of trump" makes them look bad, and maybe it's made them give some thought to all this.

MAYBE it's made them start to think, and change their minds, and adjust their views, and be a little more objective than agenda-driven.

Maybe.

And I went to Catholic school where they taught forgiveness for sin, from God to us sinners, from Jesus on the Cross to all of us, and from all of us to each other. And I'm trying. I'm trying to "think forgiveness." I'm trying to think that maybe there really might have been a sincere change-of-heart among these self-described "former Republicans."

That said, though, hopefully you'll excuse me for not wanting to hold my breath...

Meantime, I'd rather stand with those who can't breathe.

[Evolve Dammit]

41. Well said. Without them speaking out, it will be harder. I welcome their new-found enlightenment.

I know it's not perfect, and they certainly might revert, but I gotta think some of them have seen enough and are disgusted, angry and horrified like the rest of us. I may be overly optimistic, but at this point, we need some strong voices and serious Congressional leadership. NOW. I will take it when and where available. We the People need as much as those folks can articulate. JUST STAND UP and call it what it is. Unprecendented, traitorous, dangerous and immoral.

[calimary]

48. I actually do welcome it also.

I believe in deathbed conversions and all that other stuff. I believe that hearts and minds really can be changed and that people are redeemable. Evidently Somebody thought so.

It’s just that with the aforementioned “recovering GOPers, I’m not 100% willing to trust. At least not yet. Most of them seem converted and appear to have faced the error of their ways. But that’s right now. With trump to disown and denounce and disavow.

But what happens if Romney decides to take another stab at it? What happens if Mike Dewine steps forward? Heck, what do they do when Tom Cotton and Mike Pompeo decide to go for it? Do they remain reasonable like they are now? Or do they run back to the GOP so they can keep cutting taxes for the rich, keep using that as an excuse to cut services and programs for the poor and needy, curtail civil rights and voting rights, and try to own and dominate women’s bodies?

Is it just trump they can’t stomach? Or have they started realizing it’s their policies, and a lot of what they believe in, that they need to rethink - and leave behind?

I hope it’s the latter. I sincerely do hope there’s a genuine re-evaluation. I hope there’s a great awakening, a great realization, that policies only of what benefits the haves and have-mores are just plain wrong.

But I’ve been around long enough to know I shouldn’t get my hopes up too high.

[Evolve Dammit]

49. Excellent questions Calimary. It is hard to say what each of them is willing to tolerate and what

each wants to see for this country. I'm afraid of what happens when these protests stop. The outcry needs to broaden even more. The use of the Blackhawk helicopter, tear gas and secret police (no insignia, etc.) should be scaring the hell out of anyone with a functioning brain. Unless you want a police state, that is. We'll see how many are down with that in the near future.

[struggle4progress]

3. They're mercenaries. Nobody with any integrity would do this.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

4. Eric Prince's boys.....Betsy DeVos's brother's Blackwater boys.....

[dewsgirl]

9. When I've heard reference to Erik Prince's mercenaries over the years,

I've somehow pictured them a bit more, I don't know in shape.
Most of these guys aren't fit enough to be accepted into the U.S.military.

[LessAspin]

31. My daughter worked in the gym at Prince Industries..

As a kinesiology major in Holland Michigan my daughter interned at a gym in the old Prince Industries complex. It was owned by Johnson Controls when she worked there.

Let's just say Erik Prince did not skimp when it came to making sure the employees could stay in shape. Plenty of equipment and space was devoted to it. So your point is well taken.

[Lonestarblue]

37. I think a lot of Prince's mercenaries were former Green Berets or other special forces.

These guys don’t fit that picture. Some of them are prison guards and ICE agents, plus TSA because airports need fewer of them now. A photo from last week showed one man with a patch on his sleeve indicating the San Diego Correctional system.

The bigger question is to whom do they report? And what chain of command is that person in? And what authorities have they been given? Have they been given the right to arrest people? These people seem to be operating outside the Capitol police as well as outside any the National Guard or US military. Is Barr the one issuing their orders? And if so what legal right does the AG have to direct the actions of government employees outside the DOJ?

Or is all this just one big photo op that Trump is staging to make it look like the protests are out of control and he is the strongman who is using the country’s resources to manfully take control back?

[smirkymonkey]

27. I don't think so. I would think Blackwater boys would be in top notch shape and

not as ...um..."special" looking. These guys look like they were recruited from a MAGA rally or the Klan or something. They do not look like professionals.

[diverdownjt]

38. No way...Eric Princes boys have better gear than real cops.

These are just idiots who need a paycheck more than they're lives.

Look at the t-shirts and they're fitness level. not cops. just punks.

[Sneederbunk]

5. Where is the investigative reporting on this?

[csziggy]

44. NY Times has an article

Behind a paywall so I can't read it, but here:

Unidentified Federal Police Prompt Fears Amid Protests in Washington

The Trump administration has deployed phalanxes of officers in riot gear and no identifiable markings to police demonstrations in the capital. Democrats want to know who they are.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/us/politics/unidentified-police-protests.html

[FM123]

6. Yep.

Even without ID, they are showing us who they are: trump's post-election loss revenge machine that he is waiting to inflict upon us.

[njhoneybadger]

7. Mayor of DC should have them arrested if they refuse to identify themselves.

[splunge63]

13. This!

Zero tolerance for banana republic-ville.

[coti]

50. Exactly. Where are the police in this? nt

[A HERETIC I AM]

8. The thing is, there will never be any shortage of men...

And let’s not kid ourselves, it’s MOSTLY men, who are willing to show up for anything as long as they are here to “Kick ass and take names”.

Oh...and forget the taking names part. They just want to hurt people with no repercussions.

[C_U_L8R]

10. First person shooters refugees from mom's basement and unemployed mall cops.

Seriously unfit.

[OMGWTF]

32. Another Merry Band of Unfukable Losers

[Nevilledog]

11. Some of the replies to that thread are fucking hilarious.

[3catwoman3]

15. "The Gravy Seals...

Last edited Sat Jun 6, 2020, 01:44 PM - Edit history (1)

...of Meal Team 6” was especially good.

[Mike 03]

17. LOL

[Nevilledog]

18. Some of my faves

Cyrus Bezyan (@cyrusbezyan) Tweeted:
@cgordini @bdaviskc They're probably getting paid in cheetos, replica German WW2 memorabilia and bags of those gold coins that are actually chocolate.


Simon Bloke Collins (@SimonCollins74) Tweeted:
@bdaviskc “And you, I will call Flounder” https://t.co/LCLfP5Wc4L


Skarekrow (@Jeff_Kantrowski) Tweeted:
@bdaviskc @ByTimGraham Can't stop laughing at the tactical sharpie https://t.co/WFt5y5mIMB





(Yeah, I don't know how to embed the tweet... I'll put that on my to do list)

[csziggy]

43. The Home Depot Bowling team!

anton newcombe
@antonnewcombe
·
13h
Replying to
@bdaviskc
Look at the state of them - kind of like a Home Depot bowling team


Sunshine Came Softly
@SunshineHappyP1
·
13h
minus the balls

[dalton99a]

12. Trump is taking a page from Putin's playbook for the Crimea invasion

No name, no insignia, no nationality

[erronis]

28. Same tactics used in Chechnya, Syria, poisonings in UK, Germany, elsewhere

Trying for all types of deniability. Tactics are just old KGB, new FSB.

BellingCat is a great resource. For example:
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/americas/2020/06/05/visualizing-police-violence-against-journalists-at-protests-across-the-us/
https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/how-tos/2020/04/15/how-not-to-report-on-russian-disinformation/

[Evolve Dammit]

45. Vlad probably has a play book just for Donnie, complete with daily check-ins.

He is definately getting advice on how to divide, start a civil war and reap the aftermath. He's being aided and abetted by many fascists, criminals,,religious fanatics and congressional yes men and women, that he has tapped for his inner circle. The donors ensure the supply chain.

[Mike 03]

16. Roger Stone's motorcycle gang? Proud Boys?

Identity Evropa? Atomwaffen Division?

[Dustlawyer]

19. Rachel had the segment last night identifying several groups of these mystery cops.

One group was from the federal penitentiary in Beaumont Texas. These are the guys that rush into a cell to subdue inmates who are not falling in line. Being from the area I know that many of the guards at the penitentiary have Civid 19. Now they are Barr/Trump secret police!

[Renew Deal]

20. The Washington DC police department should arrest them unless they identify themselves.

[Martin Eden]

21. When fascism comes to America ...

... shit, it's already here.

[AllaN01Bear]

23. no name , badge or id. bage # covered up ? out of uniform? fired.

[Blue Owl]

24. They're from a Jon McNaughton painting

n/t

[tiptonic]

25. Erick Prence

Blackwater mercenaries. Money in Trumps pocket too..

[Jarqui]

26. If they will not identify themselves

why should people have to obey their wishes.

How do we know they haven't overthrown Trump and taken over?
(extreme question only to make the point)

If they touch you, they're just another person on this soil - who are assaulting you.

[panfluteman]

29. We're Not Somehow Immune to All This, Folks...

Yes, what has happened in Hitler's Germany, in Putin's Russia, and in Ceausescu's Romania can also happen here. No democracy is immune to this. Constant vigilance, and intelligent, educated vigilance, is the price of freedom.

[onetexan]

36. it's already happening in front of our eyes, & has been for the past 4 years

since this orange fool became a voice for the RW nuts. Dangerous. We need to keep up the fighting back and shove them back to the woodworks they came from.

[RainCaster]

30. Call of Doody players who met on Xbox live

[Hip2bSquare]

33. tRump could care less about them..

The sad truth is... the orange fool couldn't care less about any one of them. They can stand there in their DIY riot gear from Acme sporting goods all day and night, but I guarantee not one of them will get a discount coupon for a night's stay at trump tower. Ruin their reputations and lives for a bone spur who will forget their entire existence with the next Joe Scarborough tweet.

[marie999]

34. Just wondering,

If you can not tell that they are legitimate police officers, do you have to do what they say? Can you use deadly force to protect yourself from attack?

[LiberalArkie]

35. I would guess they are Academi.

[Moostache]

39. Doxx them ALL....now! (n/t)

[BamaRefugee]

42. STEVE! You and countless others say SOMETHING MUST BE DONE! So what the fuck are we supposed to do?

SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, COME UP WITH A PLAN!

It's obvious that protests do nothing.
DU posts do nothing.
Snarky memes do nothing.
Impeachment does nothing.
Sternly worded letters do nothing.
Tweets, TikToks and Instagram DO NOTHING.
Our politicians DO NOTHING.

Can any "pundit", politico. journalist, anyone living soul COME UP WITH A PLAN OF ACTION?

Because, believe me, we will try it!

[coti]

51. The mayor needs to confront them with the police.

And if they don't disperse or duly identify themselves and the authority under which they are they, arrest them.

[barbtries]

46. they don't even match.

it seems to me to be some fucking ragtag militia from timbuktoo.

i am really debating paying my taxes this year. i am sick, sick to death of paying for this bullshit!~

[Squidly]

47. These wannabees need to be bum rushed

I bet that if anything goes down tonight these turds are going to turn tail and run for cover. There has got to be SOMETHING that can be done to get them off the streets and expose them and expose who is behind this.