Thread by @latimes

An unusual order came in March of last year:

The air branch of the California National Guard was told to place an F-15C fighter jet on an alert status for a possible domestic mission, according to four Guard sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
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Those sources said the order didn’t spell out the mission but, given the aircraft’s limitations, they understood it to mean the plane could be deployed to terrify and disperse protesters by flying low over them at window-rattling speeds.latimes.com/california/sto…

Deploying an F-15C, an air-to-air combat jet based at the Guard’s 144th Fighter Wing in Fresno, to frighten demonstrators in this country would have been an inappropriate use of the military against U.S. civilians, the sources said.

latimes.com/california/sto…

They said the jet was also placed on an alert status — fueled and ready for takeoff — for possible responses to protests over the murder of George Floyd by a police officer and to any unrest sparked by the Nov. 3 presidential election.

latimes.com/california/sto…

“It would have been a completely illegal order that disgraced the military,” one source said. “It could look like we’re threatening civilians.”

Read the story:
latimes.com/california/sto…