Trump Rescinds Obama Ban on Giving Military Gear to Police
- Order restores 1990s program created to recycle Pentagon gear
- Small arms, ammunition, armored vehicles again accessible
An armored police vehicle is parked near a campaign rally for Donald Trump in Wilmington, Ohio, on Nov. 4, 2016.
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
U.S. President Donald Trump undid another Obama-era initiative, lifting his predecessor’s ban on giving local police departments military-grade equipment like armored vehicles, search-and-rescue equipment and grenade launchers.
An executive order that Trump issued Monday rescinds restrictions put in place in May 2015. That move by former President Barack Obama followed a national uproar over the police shooting of an unarmed man in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014, and the local police department’s response to protests and rioting by deploying armored trucks and military weaponry.