AAP FACTCHECK – An update to US Department of Defense (DOD) guidance has spawned false claims that the American government has authorised lethal force to be used against its citizens, ahead of the presidential election.
Directive 5240.01 outlines protocol for when defence intelligence agencies are assisting federal, state or local law enforcement and does not permit the military to kill citizens.
One version of the claim appears in an October 20 Facebook video by New Zealand anti-vaccination activist and preacher Billy Te Kahika.
“So the Biden Harris government have just been exposed. For what? Glad you asked. For authorising lethal force to be used against US citizens,” he says (16 minutes 25 seconds), before playing a clip from The People’s Voice, whose content AAP FactCheck has debunked numerous times.
“US military now authorised to kill Americans on US soil? Just ahead, intriguingly, of the November elections,” a speaker in the clip claims (17:41).
Former presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr made similar claims at a rally for Donald Trump on October 23, saying that “under this directive, it will become legal for the US military to shoot and kill Americans who engage in political protest because they disagree with policies in the White House” (21:35).
On September 27 the DOD reissued directive 5240.01, an internal policy document that provides guidance on how defence intelligence agencies respond to requests for support from law enforcement, such as police or the FBI, in situations where lives are endangered.
It’s explained that this support can include providing intelligence and specialised equipment (section 3.2, page 12), but the use of force by military personnel themselves is not mentioned at this stage.
The reference to “lethal force” appears in section 3.3 (a), which lists situations whereby approval must be sought from the Secretary of Defense (p13), including “… 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 …”.
DOD spokeswoman Sue Gough said the directive affirms long-standing policies that apply to defence intelligence agencies.
“The policies concerning the use of force by DOD addressed in DODD 5240.01 are not new, and do not authorise the DOD to use lethal force against US citizens or people located inside the United States, contrary to rumours and rhetoric circulating on social media,” she told AAP FactCheck.
Matthew Savill, military sciences director at the UK’s Royal United Services Institute, confirmed this.
“The claims being made online seem to be that the directive will be used by the military to kill dissenters but, in reality, it’s just reminding the DOD that if they are supporting activity (e.g. law enforcement) where there might be a use of force, then that support must be authorised by the Secretary of Defense,” he said.
Ms Gough said the directive was reissued to provide clarification and uniformity on the procedure for dealing with requests from law enforcement, and that its release was not related to the election.
Language referring to lethal force already existed in directive 3025.18, which is an umbrella policy for all defence department agencies when assisting law enforcement and has not been updated since 2018.
Mr Savill said the directive doesn’t override any existing legal regulations for US military domestic activity.
The Posse Comitatus Act 1878 bars federal military forces from participating in law enforcement unless a statutory exception is authorised by Congress.
The main exception is what’s often referred to as the Insurrection Act of 1807, which allows the president to deploy the military on US soil to suppress civil disorder, insurrection or rebellion.
If an exception to the Posse Comitatus Act is made, defence personnel are subject to directive 5210.56, which says “deadly force” is permitted only as a last resort in cases of self-defence, where there’s “threat of death or serious bodily harm to a person”, or to protect critical national-security assets (p17).
Directive 5240.01 makes clear that assistance provided by intelligence agencies must comply with the Posse Comitatus Act and any other applicable laws and policies (p11).
The claim has also been debunked by AFP, Reuters, Snopes, PolitiFact and FactCheck.org.
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
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