WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said late Saturday that six Democrats involved in a video calling on military officers to refuse illegal commands “should be in jail.”
The Republican leader’s remarks came after he accused the Democrat lawmakers on Friday of “seditious behavior, punishable by death.”
Democrats slammed Trump’s comments as “absolutely vile” threats against the six senators and representatives, all of whom have served in the military or intelligence community.
Trump took to social media on Saturday night, writing:
“THE TRAITORS THAT TOLD THE MILITARY TO DISOBEY MY ORDERS SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW, NOT ROAMING THE FAKE NEWS NETWORKS TRYING TO EXPLAIN THAT WHAT THEY SAID WAS OK.”
He said that the Democrats’ message was “SEDITION AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL” and that “THERE CAN BE NO OTHER INTERPRETATION OF WHAT THEY SAID.”
The video posted on social media Friday called on the military to “refuse illegal orders” and featured Arizona’s Mark Kelly, Michigan’s Elissa Slotkin, along with Jason Crow of Colorado, Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire.
They did not specify which orders they were referring to, but Trump has ordered the National Guard into multiple US cities, in many cases against the wishes of local officials, in a bid to bring alleged rampant unrest under control.
Abroad, Trump has also ordered strikes on a series of alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean that have left more than 80 people dead and which experts say are illegal.
Trump has alluded to the death penalty on previous occasions.
In 2023, former US military officer Mark Milley told a journalist he had secretly called his Chinese counterpart after the January 6, 2021 riots at the US Capitol to reassure Beijing that the United States remained “stable” and had no intention to attack China.
Trump subsequently wrote on social media that “in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!”
Trump urges jail time for Democrats over military message
https://arab.news/8yanq
Trump urges jail time for Democrats over military message
- US leader earlier accused Democrat lawmakers of “seditious behavior, punishable by death”
- Democrats slammed Trump’s comments as “absolutely vile” threats against the six senators and representatives
Nigerian children reunite with their parents after being released from abduction
- Since 2014, when Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from Chibok, there have been at least a dozen mass school abductions with at least 1,799 students kidnapped
PAPIRI: Several parents welcomed the return late Tuesday night of their children, who were abducted last month when gunmen stormed their school.
“It has not been easy for me... But today, in fact, I have a little bit of joy, especially because there is still one abducted. But I am now happy with this one that I have gotten," Luka Illaya, one of the parents in the hall, told The Associated Press. One of his sons was released, while another remains with the abductors.
His son, who hugged him tightly, is one of the 100 students released over the weekend after they were abducted from a Nigerian Catholic school on Nov. 21.
The Papiri school abductions, where more than 300 students and staff were taken, was the latest in a string of mass abductions that have rocked Nigeria in the past decade. Days earlier, 25 students were also abducted in nearby Kebbi state.
The government did not release any details about the released Papiri students and the fate of at least 150 other children and staff who remain in captivity. Fifty of the students escaped in the hours following the abductions.
“We thank all the security agencies that helped in the rescue of our children. We are pleading that God should give them more strength to be able to rescue the remaining children,” Reverend Sister Felicia Gyang, the principal of the school, said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the abductions.
Analysts say school children are a target for armed groups seeking a high ransom from the government and communities. Such abductions have often commanded national and international attention, with the pope last month calling for the release of the Papiri students in a Sunday address from the Vatican.
Since 2014, when Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from Chibok, there have been at least a dozen mass school abductions with at least 1,799 students kidnapped, according to an AP tally.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on X earlier this week called on security agencies and governors to do more to protect children from falling into the hands of abductors, saying students “should no longer be sitting ducks.”
