The Astounding Reason Why Ex-Prez Called For Protestors to be ‘Shot’ in 2020: Former Trump Aide

Mark Esper, Donald Trump's former Secretary of Defense, claimed in an interview from 2022 that the former president's closest military advisors plotted to foil Trump's darkest inclinations as president. In a wide-ranging interview with CBS' 60 Minutes, Esper made numerous bombshell allegations that, if proven, would create a picture of the Trump administration's tumultuous years in office. 

According to Esper, the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in the late spring of 2020 marked a turning point in his tenure as the Secretary of Defense. Trump was allegedly infuriated by the rioters who set areas of Washington ablaze on May 31 during marches for social justice. The next morning, at a meeting, the chief executive was about to order 10,000 active-duty soldiers to storm the streets of the nation's capital.

Host Norah O'Donnell went on to ask Esper, "What was the most disturbing thing that the president said during that meeting on June 1st?" According to Esper, Trump was quite angry and profane in his office that day. Esper also felt that Trump was "gonna finally give a direct order to deploy paratroopers into the streets of Washington, D.C. And I'm thinking with weapons and bayonets. This would be horrible." 

O'Donnell continued to inquire, "What specifically was he suggesting that the U.S. military should do to these protesters?" Esper replied, "He says, "Can't you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something. And he's suggesting that that's what we should do, that we should bring in the troops and shoot the protesters." O'Donnell pressed Esper for a second time to clarify if the president was recommending that American forces open fire on demonstrators. Esper stated, "Yes, in the streets of our nation's capital. That's right. Shocking."

Esper's remarks are in line with those of Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Mark Milley, who told Wall Street Journal writer Michael Bender for his book that Trump had ordered police to handle the protestors and 'crack their skulls'. As reported by CNN, Trump suggested, "That’s how you’re supposed to handle these people. Crack their skulls!" Other Republicans, like Utah Senator Mitt Romney, South Dakota Senator John Thune, and Indiana Senator Mike Braun, openly backed former Defense Secretary Esper when he publicly broke with Trump on his treatment of protestors in June of 2020.

Further Esper discussed a method he and Pentagon director Mark Milley came up with, the 'four No's,' while talking to Norah O'Donnell. Esper explained, "The four things we had to prevent from happening between then and the election. And one was no strategic retreats, no unnecessary wars, no politi-- politicization of the military, and no misuse of the military. And so, as we went through the next five to six months, that became the metric by which we would measure things."