Trump rolls back limits on military gear for police

WASHINGTON—Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Monday that the Trump administration will increase access to surplus military gear for local police departments, including grenade launchers and other large-caliber weapons. “The executive order the president will sign today will ensure that you can get the lifesaving gear that you need to do your job and send a strong message that we will not allow criminal activity, violence, and lawlessness to become the new normal,” Sessions said in a speech at the Fraternal Order of Police National Conference in Nashville, Tenn. In 2015, then-president President Barack Obama placed restrictions on military gear for local police departments. Obama’s executive order followed heavily armored police confronting demonstrators in Ferguson, Mo., who gathered to protest the police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown. Sessions said Obama’s limits went too far and placed superficial concerns above public safety. Several Republicans oppose Trump’s decision, including Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. “The militarization of our law enforcement is due to an unprecedented expansion of government power in this realm,” he said in a statement. “It is one thing for federal officials to work with local authorities to reduce or solve crime, but it is another for them to subsidize militarization.”