BY ED FELIEN
In order to understand the full implications of Trump appointing Bob Kroll as U.S. Marshall, we need to review Hitler’s relationship with Ernst Rohm.
Trump’s first wife, Ivana, said “The Donald” had a copy of Hitler’s speeches on his bedside table.
He once asked his Chief of Staff, John Kelly, “You f—ing generals, why can’t you be like the German generals?”
The German general Trump probably admired most was Ernst Rohm.
After Germany’s defeat in World War I, Munich was in chaos. Socialists and Communists were the elected Bavarian government. Then the German military, along with a gang of thugs – the Freikorps, an early version of the Brown Shirts – forcibly overthrew the elected leftist government. There were 600 casualties. Later, 1200 leftists were executed.
Ernst Rohm was in the thick of it. A decorated hero from the war, he was a leader in the Freikorps. He had joined the German Workers Party, the precursor to the Nazi Party, in 1919. Hitler joined the same year.
They planned the Munich Beer Hall Putsch together in 1923. In November, Rohm led about two thousand men from one beer hall to take over the War Ministry. Hitler led another group from another beer hall to support Rohm, but the Bavarian police stopped them. There were 20 casualties.
The cover photo shows Hitler and Rohm at the time of their trial.
Ironically, Hitler was convicted of insurrection and sent to prison for nine months (where he wrote Mein Kampf) and Rohm received a suspended sentence.
Hitler admired and needed Rohm for his daredevil bravery and his organizational contacts.
Trump admires Kroll for his chest full of medals, the many lawsuits against him for excessive force, his organizational skills as head of the Minneapolis Police Officers’ Federation and his leadership in City Heat, the white nationalist motorcycle gang of cops from the Twin Cities metropolitan area.
There is an assumed, but so far unproven, connection between Kroll and Mitch Carlson, a member of a white nationalist motorcycle gang of ex-cons. Carlson was video recorded as The Umbrella Man smashing the plate glass windows of AutoZone and spray painting “Free Shit for Everyone Zone” on the building. His actions began the looting and burning that caused more than half a billion dollars in damages to Lake Street in 2020.
1932 Political cartoon
He was never prosecuted by the Hennepin County Attorney or the Minnesota Attorney General.
The classic formula for staging a coup is to have people pretending to be leftists (false flag) causing chaos and destruction and then sending in troops to restore order.
With Bob Kroll, Trump would have all he needed in one package to sow chaos and restore order.
The job of the U.S. Marshall is to enforce federal laws. Under Donald Trump’s direction, it would be expected that the U.S. Marshalls would assist ICE in rounding up illegal immigrants. One would expect Bob Kroll to be most effective at this, and, if he needed any help — Trump just pardoned 1,500 thugs who assaulted police and stormed the Capitol in 2021. While he was a Minneapolis cop, Kroll racked up 52 complaints from the citizens he was pledged to protect. He cost the city millions in lawsuits. Michelle Gross, president of Communities United Against Police Brutality, told the Longfellow Messenger: “Federal Marshalls have enormous power with little oversight – a recipe for disaster if Kroll is in that position.”
But disaster might be the justification Trump will be looking for to rule with an iron hand.
A cautionary warning for Bob Kroll: Trump loves to throw his supporters under the bus when he no longer needs them, and Hitler – when he felt him to be a rival to his absolute power – had Rohm executed on The Night of the Long Knives.
So, be careful what you wish for.
