Army Investigating How and Why Troops Were Sent Into Alabama Town

by Pete Winn, CNS News: The U.S. Army has launched an inquiry into how and why active duty troops from Fort Rucker, Ala., came to be placed on the streets of Samson, Ala., during last week's murder spree in that tiny South Alabama community. The use of the troops was a possible violation of federal law. “On March 10, after a report of an apparent mass murder in Samson, Ala., 22 military police soldiers from Fort Rucker, Ala., along with the provost marshal, were sent to the city of Samson,” Harvey Perritt, spokesman for the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) at Fort Monroe, Va., told CNSNews.com on Monday.

“The purpose for sending the military police, the authority for doing so, and what duties they performed is the subject of an ongoing commander’s inquiry--directed by the commanding general of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, Gen. Martin Dempsey.” . . . The troops were apparently not deployed by the request of Alabama Gov. Bob Riley or by the request of President Obama, as required by law. No request from President Obama, meanwhile, was issued by the White House--or the Defense Department. Wrongful use of federal troops inside U.S. borders is a violation of several federal laws, including one known as the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, Title 18, Section 1385 of the U.S. Code. . . . [Full Story: Army Investigating How and Why Troops Were Sent . . .]

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Tags: Alabama, military troops, Posse Comitatus, US Army
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