Pittsburgh Police Preparing For Riots Should Trump Fire Mueller

Instead of providing reassurance that Mr. Trump was not considering firing Robert  Mueller or Rod Rosenstein, Trump provided a cryptic response to a reporter yesterday asking whether “he had decided it not worth the political fallout”  to fire either of the men associated with the Russian investigation.

Mr. Trump responded to the question beginning with his now signature response that “there was no collusion,” adding the Congressional Investigative Committee tasked with the probe found nothing untoward, citing his administration’s cooperation while reminding the nation that the investigation was nothing but a hoax by Democrats.  Trump continued:

“They’ve been saying I’m going to get rid of them for the last four, five months, but they’re still here,” Trump said in response to a reporter’s question on the topic during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday.”

It should be noted that the report Mr. Trump is referencing the same report which Republican lawmakers on the committee issued despite protests from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and does not include the Democratic response which was issued about one week later.

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To be clear: Mr. Trump has not been cleared of any wrongdoing in the Russian probe, and Republican lawmakers tasked with investigating the matter continue to thwart the investigation at nearly every turn.

With continued rumors of Mr. Trump wanting to fire Rosenstein, it has provided little comfort for cities such as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who ordered their “plain clothes detectives” to “bring full uniform and riot gear” beginning today, “until further notice.”

The plain clothes detectives were informed via email from Victor Joseph, commander of major crimes, and confirmed by Pittsburgh Mayor, Bill Peduto.

The email reads as follows:

“There is a belief that President Trump will soon move to fire Special Prosecutor Mueller,” Joseph’s email continued. “This would result in a large protest within 24 hours of the firing. The protest would be semi-spontaneous and more than likely happen on short notice.”

We may be needed to assist in the event that there is a large scale protest,” Joseph added in the email.”

Joseph is referencing a large-scale movement  labeled  “Nobody Is Above The Law,”  a movement launched since rumors circulated and media outlets reported that Mr. Trump had been considering firing Rod Rosenstein, which would allow him to replace the Deputy Attorney General who is overseeing the Mueller investigation.

Rosenstein has been in the cross-hairs of Mr. Trump ever since his friends at Fox News have been promoting the firing of both Rosenstein and Mueller.

In addition, several GOP lawmakers, specifically Devin Nunes (R-CA), Trey Gowdy (R-CA) and others have demanded Rosenstein hand over classified documents related to James Comey and the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

The police memo does not claim the Pittsburgh Police leadership know the President’s intentions regarding Mueller or Rosenstein, but rather demonstrates how cities across the land are preparing for the potentiality Mr. Trump acts.

The “Nobody Is Above The Law” movement states the following on their homepage regarding the potentiality for protests to take place on a national level:

“Donald Trump could be preparing to put himself above the law. We won’t allow it,” the group says on its Web page. “Trump will create a constitutional crisis if he fires special counsel Robert Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees Mueller, or attempts to compromise the investigation by other means.”

It should also be noted that the group organized by MoveOn.org clearly advocates for no violence at any of the scores of gatherings slated to begin should Mr. Trump actually go forward with what many pundits predict, and media outlets reporting while providing participants de-escalation techniques.

Which begs the question: Why the need for riot gear?

Watch the local Pittsburgh Media Outlet’s Report on this story: 

For the purposes of ethical disclosure: This author is signed up for the group’s movement for the city of Baton Rouge. 

Dr. Mark Bear

A social psychologist by day, political analyst and journalist by night, Dr. Mark Bear has built an established audience by printing facts, without click-bait, sensationalism, or hyperbole. He is married to his wife of 34 years, and both he and his wife, Susan, have a Schnauzer named Shadow. Follow along by connecting with Doc on Facebook or Twitter under the handle Dr. Progressive!