Ron Paul Decries National Guard Deployment in Ferguson

Ron Paul Decries National Guard Deployment in Ferguson

In an appearance on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” former libertarian-leaning Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) expressed his disdain for the direction law enforcement took in Ferguson, MO amid the turmoil surrounding the protests of the killing of Michael Brown.

Paul pointed to the so-called militarization of the police as a broader point of disagreement, but said also disapproved of the use of the Missouri National Guard in any police action when asked by host Andrea Mitchell if Gov. Jay Nixon’s authorization was the proper move.

“That’s always a tough one but even the National Guard is a military operation,” Paul said. “So I don’t like the military to be moved in. But if you — it should be a police activity but we’re seeing the consequences of so many mistakes and the question is how you handle this because if you get rid of the militarization, it takes a while to do that. But I think the less military, the better because the police became militarized. I can’t see how bringing soldiers in are a very good substitute for the police. Maybe the state police or something like that, but not the guard unit which has been taken over by the federal government. They are not as independent as they may sound. The federal government uses the military, you know, overseas at will, whether it’s the guard or the reserve units. They go overseas at the president’s command. So I don’t think that’s the solution.”

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor

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