NonilexFeb 23, 2025

In firing Gen #CQBrown, the chair of the #JointChiefs of Staff in the Fri night purge at the #Pentagon, #Trump did not publicly give a reason. In fact, the 4-star fighter pilot w/40yrs of service was at the #border tending to one of Trump’s priorities…

But, Trump advisers point to a video that Gen Brown recorded in the days after #GeorgeFloyd was killed by a police officer in May 2020, an act that sparked a #SocialJustice movement.
#USpol #law #FreeSpeech #WhiteSupremacy
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/us/politics/trump-cq-brown-george-floyd.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Trump’s Firing of Gen. Charles Q. Brown May Have Roots in George Floyd Protests

A four-minute video appears to have been a turning point for the president and Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the ousted Joint Chiefs chairman.

The New York Times
Show threadNonilexFeb 23, 2025

In the 4-min video, Gen #CQBrown reflected on his experiences as an African American pilot in the Air Force.

The killing of #GeorgeFloyd also blew up the relationship between #Trump & General Brown’s predecessor, Gen. Mark A. #Milley.

#USpol #law #FreeSpeech #WhiteSupremacy

Show threadNonilexFeb 23, 2025

Days after #GeorgeFloyd’s murder, Gen. #Milley, wearing his Army fatigues, accompanied #Trump in a walk across Lafayette Square near the White House for a photo op after an *aggressive* [brutal] clearing of a peaceful #demonstration. Milley was widely criticized for allowing Trump to drag him into #politics.

Milley publicly apologized, saying, “I should not have been there.”

Trump was furious. “Why’d you do that?” he asked Milley, per Trump ofcls at the time.

#law #FreeSpeech #WhiteSupremacy

Show threadNonilexFeb 23, 2025

The two were already at odds over #Trump’s desire to use the #InsurrectionAct to deploy active duty #troops to rein in the protesters, a move that Gen #Milley & then #Defense Secy Mark Esper had vehemently opposed.

Trump would never trust either man again.

Trump would later fire Esper (by tweet). As for Gen Milley, Trump would eventually suggest he should be put to death.

#USpol #law #FreeSpeech #WhiteSupremacy

Show threadNonilexFeb 23, 2025

And after #Trump returned to power, #Milley’s & #Esper’s portraits were removed from the walls of the #Pentagon.

It is unclear whether Gen #CQBrown will get a portrait of his 1 year & 4 months as the #JointChiefs chair. Trump has not publicly criticized Gen Brown, whom he is seeking to replace w/the retired 3-star Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, another fighter pilot.

#USpol #law #authoritarianism #autocracy #military #WhiteSupremacy

Show threadNonilexFeb 23, 2025
#PeteHegseth, #Trump’s new #defense secy, had questioned whether Gen #CQBrown was selected as the #JointChiefs chair because he was Black & said on a podcast in Nov that he should be fired over the #military’s #diversity efforts.
In his book,Hegseth wrote of Brown’s promotion:“Was it because of his skin color? Or his skill? We’ll never know, but always doubt—which on its face seems unfair to CQ. But since he has made the race card one of his biggest calling cards, it doesn’t really much matter.”
Show threadNonilexFeb 23, 2025

Gen #CQBrown electrified the #military rank & file on June 4, 2020, when as Pacific Air Forces commander, he released his 4-min video, which he called, simply, “What I’m thinking about.”

On the streets of some cities, #BlackLivesMatter protests were raging over the killing of #GeorgeFloyd by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck while Floyd was handcuffed & lay dying facedown.

#USpol #law #Trump #authoritarianism #autocracy #military #WhiteSupremacy

Show threadNonilexFeb 23, 2025

Gen #CQBrown would later say in an interview that one of his two sons asked him: “What is Pacific Air Forces going to say?” As the commander of #PacificAirForces, Gen Brown said he knew that was code for “Dad, what are you going to say?”

#USpol #law #Trump #authoritarianism #autocracy #military #WhiteSupremacy

Show threadNonilex

Against a dark background, a solemn Gen #CQBrown, clad in fatigues, stared into the camera, & said this: “As the commander of Pacific Air Forces, & a senior leader in our #AirForce, & an African American, many of you may be wondering what I’m thinking about the current events surrounding the tragic death of #GeorgeFloyd,” Gen Brown began. “Here’s what I’m thinking about.”

#USpol #law #Trump #authoritarianism #autocracy #military #WhiteSupremacy

Feb 23, 2025 at 3:37amWeb
Show threadNonilexFeb 23, 2025
For 4½ mins, Gen #CQBrown spoke, in stark terms, about his life as an African American fighter pilot.
“I’m thinking about how full I am with, with emotion, not just for #GeorgeFloyd, but the many African Americans that suffered the same fate as George Floyd,” he said, a…tremor his voice. “I’m thinking about protests in my country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, the equality expressed in our declaration of independence, in the Constitution, that I’ve sworn my adult life to support & defend.”
Show threadNonilexFeb 23, 2025

Gen #CQBrown spoke of “living in 2 worlds, both w/their own perspectives & views.” He described what those worlds were like for him. He & his sister were the only #Black children at his elementary school, he said, & they tried to fit in. In their HS, half of the students were Black & they still tried to fit in.

“I’m thinking about my #AirForce career, where I was often the only African American in my squadron, or, as a senior officer, the only African American in the room,” he said.
#USpol #law

Show threadNonilexFeb 23, 2025
At the time,~43% of the 1.3M men & women on active duty were people of color, but nearly all of the people…at the top were white & male. In a photo taken in Oct 2019, #Trump was surrounded by his top 4-star generals, a sea of white faces,…the top commanders who led an otherwise diverse institution.
In his vid, Gen #CQBrown continued: “I’m thinking about wearing the same flight suit, w/the same wings on my chest as my peers, & then being questioned by another #military member, ‘are you a pilot.’”
Show threadNonilexFeb 23, 2025

Gen #CQBrown limited his words to his own experience, & reflected on the other world in which he lived, the #Black one. “I’m thinking about being a captain at the O Club w/my squadron, & being told by other African Americans that I wasn’t Black enough, since I was spending more time with my squadron than with them.”

#USpol #law #Trump #authoritarianism #autocracy #military #WhiteSupremacy

Show threadNonilexFeb 23, 2025

Gen #CQBrown spoke of how most of his mentors could not relate to his experience as a #Black man. He spoke of wondering whether airmen who have not had similar experiences “don’t see #racism as a problem because it doesn’t happen to them, or whether they’re empathetic.”

Gen Brown finished by talking about the weight he felt as the first African American nominated to be chief of the #AirForce. #Trump had nominated him for that position, on Esper’s recommendation.

#USpol #law #military

Show threadNonilexFeb 23, 2025

Gen #CQBrown would go on to become the chair of the #JointChiefs of Staff under President #Biden, in an 83-11 Senate vote. For the first time in its history, the #Pentagon was led by two #Black men, with #LloydAustin III, Biden’s #defense secretary.

But in #Trump’s eyes, one Trump adviser said on Saturday, there was no coming back for General Brown after he made his video.

#USpol #law #authoritarianism #autocracy #military #WhiteSupremacy