KY governor says Trump ups risks by confusing chain of command in LA protest response
Gov. Andy Beshear speaks to reporters in Louisville. (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley)
LOUISVILLE — In the wake of tension between the White House and and elected officials in California, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky said that 'violence is never acceptable' but 'a chain of command' should be respected.
Over the weekend, Republican President Donald Trump mobilized California National Guard troops in response to protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents' activity in Los Angeles over the objections of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. The president also ordered U.S. Marines to respond.
Beshear said that 'violence is never acceptable' when speaking to reporters following a Greater Louisville Inc. luncheon where he was the keynote speaker Wednesday, adding that Los Angeles police ':should crack down and I know is cracking down on anybody who is breaking the law, is vandalizing and or is throwing things at officers.'
'But as somebody who has had to govern through major protests, you need to have a chain of command where all the different groups can communicate with each other in law enforcement so that you can be effective,' Beshear said.
Beshear mobilized the Kentucky National Guard during 2020 protests in Louisville against police violence. Ultimately, a West End barbecue owner David McAtee died as a result of a gunshot wound from a National Guardsmen, but local police officers and guardsmen did not face state charges in the incident.
Beshear said his main concern 'is by having a president call in a state's National Guard without communicating to the governor about it at all, means you have different chains of command for the police, for the state police, for the National Guard, and now for the Marines, and that could be dangerous in the response itself.'
'So what's most important is that people are safe, that any police response is effective, that it prevents violence, but it cannot stop peaceful, lawful protest.'
The Kentucky governor, who is vice chair of the Democratic Governors Association, was part of a joint statement released by the association Sunday condemning Trump's mobilization of the California National Guard.
The Democratic governors' statement sparked a backlash from the Republican Party of Kentucky. In a Tuesday statement, state Republican spokesman Andy Westberry said by opposing 'President Trump's attempt to restore order and gain control of a dangerous situation,' Beshear is giving 'the latest reminder that his delusional presidential fantasies matter more to him than what the overwhelming majority of Kentuckians support: public safety, enforcing federal immigration law, and standing with law enforcement.'
When asked about the statement, Beshear emphasized that his concern was that 'a governor should be and must be consulted if a president is going to call out their National Guard' to ensure safety and allow peaceful protests.
'If I ordered hundreds of state police into a county over the objections of the county judge, the sheriff and the police chief, I bet those same legislators would say I'm doing something wrong,' the governor said.
Republican Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman joined other GOP attorneys general on Tuesday in backing Trump's mobilization of the National Guard in California.
'When local and state officials won't act, the federal government must,' Coleman said on X.
In the days ahead, protests are being organized nationwide to protest Trump who on Saturday will preside over a military parade in Washington D.C. It also will be the president's 79th birthday.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg recently said that the city would not 'tolerate damage to property,' but some local protests so far have been peaceful.
When asked about the Louisville protests, Beshear also agreed that they have been peaceful so far and that the Louisville Metro Police Department can monitor them. Beshear said that he has not heard anything from the White House about replicating the California order to mobilize the National Guard in other states in response to protests.
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