Martial Law Attempt In Louisiana Echoes Ron Paul’s Warning

Martial Law Attempt In Louisiana Echoes Ron Paul’s Warning

State Representative Austin Badon contacted Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office Monday and asked that the National Guard be deployed. Jindal’s office said Badon was told that any such a request would have to come from the New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu.

Under Article I, Section 8, Clause 15 of the Constitution, the National Guard – considered a state militia – is authorized to “execute the laws of the Union and suppress Insurrections and repel Invasion.” The Constitution says nothing about dispatching the military to fight domestic crime, a task usually undertaken by local law enforcement.

Since the National Defense Act (or Militia Act) of 1903, the federal government has worked to absorb the National Guard and take control of it away from the states. In 2007, the John Warner Defense Authorization Act moved to remove state governors as sole commanders in chief of their state’s National Guard during emergencies within the state.

On December 18, presidential candidate Ron Paul warned (see video below) that the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed recently by the House and now under consideration in the Senate will be used by the government to implement martial law. The bill would allow the military to detain Americans and prevent them from exercising their right to due process under the Sixth Amendment.

Deploying federally controlled troops in post-Katrina New Orleans is another attempt to circumvent Posse Comitatus and acclimate citizens to the presence of armed troops on the streets.

In August of 2005, New Orleans served as a beta test for FEMA command and control over state and local jurisdiction and autonomy. It was also used for gun confiscation. FEMA, as we have documented, is primarily concerned with “civil disturbance” and martial law, not disaster relief.

“This should be the biggest news going right now,” Ron Paul told the reporter as the House prepared to pass the NDAA bill. “It is literally legalizing martial law.” He pointed out that the NDAA’s violations of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are remarkably not even discussed in the GOP presidential “debates” conducted by the establishment media.

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