Trump threatens "heavy force" against protesters who might dare appear at D.C. military parade, and law enforcement has its eyes peeled for unruly conduct

Tanks are prepared for transit to D.C. parade (Reuters)

Having shown residents of Los Angeles that he is a "tough guy" by calling in the National Guard and Marines to help handle protests of his immigration policies, Donald Trump now is planning to teach a similar lesson to those living in Washington, D.C. How will he do that? It involves the upcoming military parade, which is designed to honor the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary -- but just happens to also fall on Trump's 79th birthday.

If Trump gets his way, the celebration could turn into confrontation -- and one gets the impression that's how the president wants it. Trump's rhetoric sounds like something out of a John Wayne movie, but that doesn't mean his actions will be appropriate or lawful. Under the headline "Trump: Protests in DC will be met with ‘very heavy force’; Nationwide “No Kings” demonstrations are expected on Saturday, the same day as the president’s military parade in Washington," Politico takes a look at a parade that could morph into a test of American values -- and its constitutional principles. Irie Sentner and Hassan Ali Kanu write:

President Donald Trump warned that any protests during this weekend’s major military parade in Washington will be met with “very heavy force.”

“If there’s any protester who wants to come out, they will be met with very big force,” the president said Tuesday during an impromptu Oval Office press conference. “I haven’t even heard about a protest, but [there are] people that hate our country. 

Trump’s threat came as thousands of National Guard troops and about 700 marines are in Los Angeles, clashing with protesters of the president’s immigration agenda. Trump claimed Tuesday without evidence the demonstrators were “paid insurrectionists” and said the city would have experienced “a lot of death and destruction” if he had not sent in the Guard.

Signs of preparation for the parade are appearing in D.C., and behind the scenes, law-enforcement officials are keeping an eye on possible plans for protests. From the Politico report:

“If we didn’t attack this one very strongly, you’d have them all over the country,” Trump said of the Los Angeles protests. “But I can inform the rest of the country that when they do it — if they do it — they’re gonna be met with equal or greater force.”

The comments come as the White House and Washington law enforcement officials are preparing for a military parade on Saturday, which coincides with the Army’s 250th — and Trump’s 79th — birthday.

By Tuesday, a mile-long line of tanks had arrived in Washington, and barricades were going up around the White House complex. It will be the first military parade in the nation’s capital since the country celebrated the end of the Gulf War more than three decades ago.

Large demonstrations were expected in several major cities on Tuesday, and a string of “No Kings” protests is expected from coast to coast on Saturday — including in Washington.

Ahead of Trump’s Oval Office remarks, Communications Director Steven Cheung told POLITICO the White House was not concerned about protests disrupting the military event.

“The parade is a way to celebrate the Army and to celebrate generations of individuals who have fought and paid the ultimate sacrifice for the country,” he said, adding that he expected large crowds of supporters.

Administration officials aren't the only ones keeping track of the event. Officials in D.C. have grown accustomed to hosting "national special security events," and they consider the military parade to be another such occasion. Sentner and Kanu report: 

Law enforcement officials in Washington are also preparing for the event, which will be the fifth designated “national special security event” in the city this year — an unprecedented number in recent memory, according to federal security agencies. Local and federal law enforcement plan to deploy more than 100 metal detectors and multiple drones, according to Matt McCool, the agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s D.C. office.

Officials are tracking a handful of demonstrations — or “First Amendment activity,” as law enforcement calls it — planned for Saturday, but “don’t have any significant concerns,” Jessica Taylor, chief of the U.S. Park Police, told reporters on Monday.

“As far as the First Amendment activity from a Secret Service perspective, it’s simply people using their First Amendment right to protest. We’re not going to do anything with that,” McCool said. “But if that turns violent or if any laws are broken, that’s when [Metro Police], Park Police, Secret Service will get involved, and that will be handled swiftly.”