A snapshot of a social media message from an account with the handle @TeamTrumpNews falsely claimed that the US president had called for a 200-year-old act to deploy the army and stay in power.
The @TeamTrumpNews account, which is posted on the Parler social network, is as if it comes from the president. It stated: ‘I have called on the Insurrection Act of 1807 to address the treacherous rebellion by Democrats and Republican lawmakers, CCP agents, the FBI, DOJ, CIA and others to the United States. and undermining, corroding and dismantling its constitution. . These entities pose a direct threat to national security. I will remain President indefinitely until all domestic enemies are arrested. ”
The Parler platform has meanwhile been suspended (here); But a screenshot of the @TeamTrumpNews post was subsequently shared on other social networks (here).
However, the @TeamPrumpNews account on Parler does not appear to be an authentic account of the US President, nor are the allegations about the appeal of the Insurrection Act correct. They show a misunderstanding of the law.
A previous fact-checking by Reuters on January 7 confirmed that Trump had not created a personal Parler account. There is speculation about one that was instituted after Trump was banned from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and others (here, here, here).
The official Trump campaign has had a Parler account since December 2018. These posts are under the handle @TeamTrump, not @TeamTrumpNews (here).
The allegation about the use of the Insurrection Act is also false. It is shared on accounts like @TeamTrumpNews and others (here) with the name of “multiple sources” as confirmation. At the time of publication of this article, there was no confirmation from any official sources, including the relevant government departments, legislators, the military or the White House itself.
The Insurrection Act of 1807 allows the US president to deploy the military to suppress domestic insurgency (here, here). As an exception to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which uses military force for domestic law enforcement, the 1807 Act has been used in the past to stem civil unrest. The last time was in 1992 when the acquittal of four police officers in Los Angeles due to the beatings of black motorist Rodney King led to deadly riots.
At the end of December, Michael Flynn, former presidential security adviser, suggested that the act could also be used to stop the election (here), but it was quickly repulsed.
Army Secretary of State Ryan McCarthy and Chief of Staff James McConville said in a joint statement: “There is no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of a U.S. election.”
Trump’s legal adviser, Jenna Ellis, also rejected the proposal, saying it would be unconstitutional. She wrote on Twitter: “I have not seen calls for martial law or the Insurrection Act with understanding and coherent, constitutional arguments. No one considers how they would react if a democratic position decided to use the military to enforce a result that they said was justified. Precedent is important. ”( here , here , here )
Just Security, a subsidiary of the Reiss Center on Law and Security at the New York University of Law, said the call for action to interfere with the election is in violation of numerous federal laws (here).
VERDICT
Untrue. The Parler account that filed the claim was not an official profile used by Donald Trump, and the claim is not accurate. The Insurrection Act was not appealed.
Read more about our work to actually check social media posts.