Attorney General Merrick Garland addressed former President Donald Trump’s recent claims that the FBI was authorized to kill him during the raid on Mar-a-Lago, dismissing the allegations as false and “extremely dangerous.”
Speaking to reporters, Garland responded to assertions made by Trump and his allies regarding the Department of Justice’s purported authorization for FBI agents to use deadly force against him during the August 2022 raid on his resort. The raid aimed to recover classified documents, leading to Trump’s indictment by Special Counsel Jack Smith in Florida.
A policy statement from the FBI, recently made public, revealed that agents were indeed authorized to use deadly force if faced with an immediate threat during the Mar-a-Lago search. However, the statement did not mention Trump, and he was not present on the property at the time of the search.
In reaction to this revelation, Trump has initiated fundraising efforts among his supporters, alleging that he “nearly escaped death” at the hands of the FBI.
Garland clarified, stating, “That allegation is false, and it is extremely dangerous.” He emphasized that the document referred to in Trump’s claim is a standard policy within the Justice Department, limiting the use of force, and is part of the standard operations plan for searches. Garland pointed out that similar protocols were even utilized during the consensual search of President Biden’s home.
