Mayor's Office

Earlier this week Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway’s office contacted the White House to make clear that President Trump’s threat to deploy the military to quell protests in American cities was unwelcome and unacceptable.

On Thursday, Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairs Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisconsin), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington), and caucus whip Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota), announced that they were introducing legislation to amend the Insurrection Act to require Congressional authorization before the deployment of active-duty troops to quell unrest.

Today, the Mayor issued the following statement:

President Trump’s threat to deploy the U.S. military to communities, where protests have swelled against police brutality and institutionalized racism, is neither warranted nor welcome.

I fully support the effort of Rep. Mark Pocan to introduce legislation that would require congressional authorization before federal troops could be deployed on domestic soil to suppress unrest.

Earlier in the week in Madison, we saw a small number of people engage in violence and looting. Since Tuesday, protests have been innovative, organized and peaceful.

The effort to make meaningful, structural change to protect Black lives can, and must be, advanced in legal and righteous peaceful protest. We hear our community and we support this peaceful advocacy.

Deploying the U.S. military to the streets of Madison or other cities would send the wrong signal and undermine needed efforts to address issues of police reform.