DOD Rules Let The Military Help Kill Americans, But Not Directly

American politics has turned into a gladiatorial arena of battling hoaxes. Whether it is “Trump-Russia collusion” or “very fine people” or “the laptop is Russian disinformation,” our politics and our society have been shaped by a cascade of lies, at least since 2016, and probably a lot longer than that.

While Democrats have mastered the art of doing this through major media sources, the Republicans are no slouches at doing the same through new media. One such case relates to a recently revised U.S. military document called DOD Directive 5240.01, “DOD Intelligence and Intelligence-Related Activities and Defense Intelligence Component Assistance to Law Enforcement Agencies and Other Civil Authorities.” 

Before I dive into this “DODD,” I’m going to take a step back and explain why we on the right need to be consistently accurate and truthful in what we say and what stories we choose to believe.

If you (like me) are an addicted consumer of political discourse on X, formerly known as Twitter, you know who the “Black Insurrectionist” was. This was a now-deleted X account that also went by the X handle “@docnetyoutube.” The person behind this account was responsible for two massive hoaxes, one of which gained traction at very high levels inside the GOP. One of these hoaxes was the infamous “ABC News whistleblower” affidavit claiming ABC gave the Harris campaign preview copies of the questions for the Trump-Harris debate. The other hoax involved claims by a purported former high school student of Tim Walz that Walz had sexually abused him. Both of these hoaxes have been thoroughly discredited, and I maintain that these hoaxes did far more damage to the right than to the left.

To wit, we all saw the ABC News presidential debate. We all saw how one-sided the questioning and “fact checks” were. This was a reality. However, the “ABC News whistleblower” hoax served to discredit and diminish our legitimate complaints about ABC News.

Further, we all know Walz has a history that gives many conservatives pause: getting arrested for drunk driving, spearheading an afterschool LGBT club, and taking high school kids to China to learn about the joys of Maoism. These are all realities. However, the “Touchdown Timmy” hoax (as it came to be known) served to discredit and diminish our legitimate complaints about Walz.

This brings me back to DODD 5240.01, a government document that provides for objectionable and potentially illegal things, but also a document which a hoax has grown up around regarding the wrong objectionable and potentially illegal things.

Let me start by saying this: DODD 5240.01 does not authorize the U.S. military to kill civilians on U.S. soil. Period. But it does do some other awful stuff I’ll get to.

Unfortunately, the DODD 5240.01 hoax has taken root at some very high levels, as RFK Jr. (someone I admire) has himself stated that the Pentagon now has “power — for the first time in history — to use lethal force to kill Americans on U.S. soil who protest government policies.” 

That’s just incorrect.

The beauty of examining this issue is that it is all self-contained. All anyone needs to know is right there in the actual text of the DODD. What that DODD actually says lies in the title of the document itself: “DOD Intelligence and Intelligence-Related Activities and Defense Intelligence Component Assistance to Law Enforcement Agencies and Other Civil Authorities.” The title is talking only about DOD intelligence assets being used in support of civil authorities. “Intelligence assets” means human analysts in a cubicle, satellite imagery, signals intelligence, written products, surveillance drones, etc. 

Just intelligence assets. Assets that are non-lethal in their own right. Not infantry. Not tanks. Not rifles. Not F-15s. Not artillery. Not door-kickers. None of that. 

Realizing what the actual subject matter of this DODD is, let’s look at the section that has everybody in a twist: 

Assistance in responding with assets with potential for lethality, or any situation in which it is reasonably foreseeable that providing the requested assistance may involve the use of force that is likely to result in lethal force, including death or serious bodily injury. It also includes all support to civilian law enforcement officials in situations where a confrontation between civilian law enforcement and civilian individuals or groups is reasonably anticipated. Such use of force must be in accordance with DODD 5210.56, potentially as further restricted based on the specifics of the requested support.

That use of the word “lethal” has people scared. But understand more context: This is a sub-paragraph of a bigger paragraph that explicitly lists things the secretary of defense must approve in order for it to happen. That’s it. That’s all this paragraph is referring to. Also understand that the “lethality” is lethality done by civil authorities, not U.S. military troops.

So let me tell you what this paragraph is saying in much simpler terms: When civil authorities (i.e., police and other law enforcement agencies) are engaged in operations where Americans might die, and those civil authorities request the help of military intelligence assets (those non-lethal assets I listed above), approval authority for such request must come directly from the secretary of defense.

That is all it says. That’s it. Nothing more.

I’m sorry that RFK Jr. got it wrong, like so many others, but the truth must win out. Go read the whole DODD yourself if you don’t believe me.

Having debunked the hoax, let me tell you the actual scandal hiding within reality. This DODD is authorizing military intelligence assets to track, surveil, monitor, and evaluate U.S. citizens so civil authorities may kill some of those same citizens. That is not an exaggeration. This is a highly unprecedented use of military assets that likely violates the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 and is an egregious misuse of assets designed solely to defeat foreign military forces and not U.S. citizens. 

DODD 5240.01 is something all patriots should be upset about. Write your senators and representatives. Write a letter to the editor. Protest — but don’t let your protest be obscured by complaining about what that DODD does not say. It does not say the military can kill U.S. civilians. It says the military can help the police in killing U.S. civilians. 

The truth is bad enough, isn’t it?

Cynical Publius is the nom de plume of a retired U.S. Army colonel and practicing attorney. The Federalist verifies the identity of its pseudonymous authors. You can follow Cynical Publius on X at @CynicalPublius.