IRC REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIRMAN

 

Jay Kramer

 

I have asked Joe Saul, REC member and former secretary to act as guest columnist this week on the topic of the US Capitol Police opening an office in Florida.

Jay

   

Hello again, Indian River County Republican Executive Committee Members, followers, and friends! REC Chair Jay Kramer asked me to write a “Guest Column” of sorts to share with you, on the topic of the Capitol Police establishing one or more offices in the State of Florida, for the stated purpose of investigating the events and occurrences of January 6, 2021, in and around the U.S. Capitol that have been characterized in the media as an “armed insurrection.”

 

Any fair-minded individual will agree that there was a breakdown of law and order at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. The cause of that breakdown is beyond the scope of this discussion. What we are discussing is the federal law enforcement response to that breakdown. The federal government is now interested in opening one or more offices in Florida as a base for the Capitol Police to investigate the events of that date in Washington, D.C. The rationale is that many persons of interest, as well as suspects, in the Washington events are Florida residents. As we all learned in our school days, this nation is a Constitutional Republic, and not the democracy that most of the media as well as our President, Speaker of the House, Senate Majority Leader and their followers today claim it to be. This republicanism and the separation of federal and state governments integral to it is perhaps best exemplified by Constitution Art. I, sec. 8, clause 17, which after establishing Washington, D.C. as a federal district, allows the federal government to purchase land from states and to pass laws governing the federalized land. 

 

The Congress shall have Power To … exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;

Constitution, Art. I, sec. 8, clause 17 [emphasis added]

 

Some have argued incorrectly that this clause prohibits federal action in a state without that state’s permission. For example, there is no Constitutional prohibition against a federal policing agency renting space to support its policing function within a given state. Also, before a federal policing agency and a given state’s policing agencies will reciprocally enforce laws, as a matter of practice, inter agency agreements must be in place.

 

The situation with which we are dealing now comes more sharply into focus. Again, the Capitol Police wishes to establish one or more offices in Florida to carry out an investigation. There is no Constitutional bar. If the Capitol Police is not looking for the aid of any Florida police agency, there is no need for an inter agency agreement. The real problem, if any, may lie within the structure of the Capitol Police itself.

 

The federal government runs a variety of policing agencies, including the Capitol Police. Some of the others include the White House Police, the FBI, TSA, US Marshals, and the US Parks Police. Of course, I apologize to those I have left out. Title 2 of the United States Code, entitled “The Congress,” contains laws governing the conduct and ancillary business of Congress. Chapter 29 of Title 2 is entitled “Capitol Police.” All section references herein, unless otherwise noted, are to Title 2 of the United States Code. The Capitol Police is a uniformed service (§1941), and all Capitol Police officers must wear uniforms when on duty (§1944). It is charged with protecting the Capitol Buildings and Grounds, including the Library of Congress (§1961), and with protecting Members of Congress and their families (§1966). Interestingly, Congress did not find it necessary to extend this protection to Congressional employees and others serving the people on behalf of the government, but only to themselves, their families, and the buildings and properties.

 

The Capitol Police has been given no provision for a detective squad, plainclothes unit, or investigative unit, per the enabling act. In this, they are unlike the Secret Service or US Marshal’s Service, other federal agencies that provide bodyguard services. The question therefore becomes, if the federal government wishes to INVESTIGATE, why are they proposing to send a police unit that has no investigative portfolio, when there is already present in the area (Florida) the Federal Bureau of Investigation, backed by all its inter agency connections with various other federal agencies? While I do not know the answer with the degree of certainty some would demand, let me repeat a sentence I wrote earlier: As we all learned in our school days, this nation is a Constitutional Republic, and not the democracy that most of the media as well as our President, Speaker of the House, Senate Majority Leader and their followers today claim it to be. Are we indeed staring into the abyss of the tyranny of a democracy?

 

Joe Saul

drjoeesq1@aol.com

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