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WASHINGTON. –  In an extraordinary letter on Tuesday, all eight of the top US military officers told US service members that last week’s deadly mob attack on the US Capitol was an illegal “direct assault” on not just Congress but also America’s constitutional order, and “the rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition, and insurrection.”

The letter from the Joint Chiefs of Staff followed Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy’s approval of 15 000 National Guardsmen, some armed with lethal weapons, to help secure the Capitol amid credible threats of violence from armed militia groups leading up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration next Tuesday. Biden, the four-star generals reminded US forces in their letter, “will be inaugurated and will become our 46th commander in chief.”

The letter was addressed to the joint force, which is made up of about 1.3 million active-duty service members and more than 811 000 National Guardsmen and reservists — all of whom swore an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

“The violent riot in Washington DC on January 6, 2021 was a direct assault on the US Congress, the Capitol building, and our Constitutional process,” the memorandum said. “We witnessed actions inside the Capitol building that were inconsistent with the rule of law. The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection.”

The joint chiefs emphasized  that acts to disrupt the constitutional process not only violate military values, but the law. — NPR