Pittsburgh prepares officers for possible riots in case Trump fires Mueller
Memo issued to detectives to prepare for possible protests
‘There is a belief that Trump will soon move to fire Mueller’
Pittsburgh police have issued a memo to department detectives to prepare for possible protests should President Trump fire special counsel Robert Mueller.
The memo, issued by Victor Joseph, commander of the Pittsburgh bureau of police, instructed detectives to begin wearing a full uniform and carrying riot gear “until further notice”.
“There is a belief that President Trump will soon move to fire Special Prosecutor Mueller. This would result in a large protest within 24 hours of the firing,” the emails states.
“The protest would be semi-spontaneous and more than likely happen on short notice,” the memo read and was issued based on “information of a potential large scale protest in the Central Business District”.
The police department appeared to be acting on information gathered from a group, Nobody is Above the Law, that has been preparing for demonstrations should the president move to fire Mueller.
More than 2,300 people have reportedly registered to participate in a potential rally at the Pittsburgh City-County building if the special counsel is removed.
However, Pittsburgh’s public safety director, Wendell Hissrich, seemed to back off from the police department’s warning, saying that the decision was precautionary and not based on any specific intelligence.
Hissrich released a statement about the possible protests: “Often the events we prepare for do not occur. However, through an abundance of caution, we attempt to adequately prepare for an appropriate response.”
The safety director added that city officials “do not have any knowledge of the President’s decision-making process”.
On Wednesday, Trump signaled that he is in no rush to fire either Mueller or the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein.
The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, blocked bipartisan legislation that would make it harder for Trump to fire Mueller, calling it unnecessary because he did not believe Trump will move to fire the special counsel.
On its webpage, Nobody is Above the Law warned that “Donald Trump could be preparing to put himself above the law. We won’t allow it,” the group says on its web page.
“Our response in the hours following a potential power grab will dictate what happens next – whether Congress will stand up to Trump or allow him to move our democracy toward authoritarianism,” the group says. It added that it currently has more than 800 protest rallies planned and had received 300,000 RSVPs.
