White House establishing ‘central command center’ to combat riots as Trump issues warning

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McEnany: White House will establish 'central command center' to work with local governments on protests

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany addresses actions White House will take to address nationwide protests.

Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced Monday the White House is establishing a “central command center” to monitor and combat riots following the death of George Floyd after President Trump posted a video on Twitter with the message, “Anarchists, we see you!”

Gen. Mark Milley, chief of Joint Chiefs of Staff, will be involved, along with Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Attorney General Bill Barr, McEnany said.

TRUMP UNLOADS ON GOVERNORS OVER PROTEST RESPONSE, CALLS THEM 'WEAK'

“There will be additional federal assets deployed across the nation,” McEnany told reporters Monday. “There will be a central command center in conjunction with the state and local governments, that will include Milley, Esper and Barr, to deal with violence and looting.”

McEnany, like Trump, called out local officials, accusing them of failing to act to control the crowds.

“It is their responsibility to police their streets,” she said.

McEnany’s announcement came after Barr directed the Bureau of Prisons to send Special Operation Response Teams to Washington, D.C. and Miami to respond to violent protests and riots.

Meanwhile, according to law enforcement officials, as a matter of process, local police make arrests during protests and riots, and then the FBI conducts interviews to review whether any federal crimes have been committed—such as the crossing of state lines to conduct violence, arson and possible domestic terrorism.

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Trump on Monday morning unloaded on governors, calling their response to violent protests “weak” and urging them to “dominate.”

“Most of you are weak,” Trump said. “You have to arrest people.

“You have to dominate, if you don't dominate you're wasting your time,” he said, according to a senior staffer in a governor’s office who was listening to the call. “They're going to run over you, you're going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate.”

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“You’ve got to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you’ll never see this stuff again,” said Trump. “We’re doing it in Washington, D.C. We’re going to do something that people haven’t seen before.”