The Pentagon on the Friday ordered the Army to prepare active-duty military police units to potentially deploy to Minneapolis, according to reports.
The Associated Press first reported the development early Saturday, followed by The New York Times. Both outlets cited unnamed officials.
The order to prepare the police units for a potential deployment began with a request from President Donald Trump, both outlets reported.
The units would be sent to Minneapolis and would supplement National Guard forces already on the ground there.
“When the White House asks for options, someone opens the drawer and pulls them out so to speak,” one unnamed official, who was reportedly on the call in which Trump made his request for deployment options, told the AP.
The Times noted that military police were deployed during the 1992 riots in Los Angeles that followed the acquittal of the police officers who beat Rodney King.
The White House did not immediately respond to TPM’s request for comment on the potential deployment orders. But spokesperson Alyssa Farah denied to the AP that Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which would apply to military police deploying domestically, was under discussion.
“False: off the record – title 10 not under discussion,” Farah said.
