Michael Flynn, who was briefly national security adviser under former President Donald Trump, said during a QAnon conference over the weekend that a military coup “should happen” in the United States. While he was on stage, a conference attendee asked Flynn a question: “I want to know why what happened in Myanmar can’t happen here?” The crowd cheered at the question. “No reason,” responded Flynn. “I mean, it should happen here.” The crowd cheered some more, apparently ecstatic at the suggestion of the military taking control of the U.S. government.
Flynn made the comment at a four-day QAnon conference called For God & Country Patriot Roundup 2021 that took place in Dallas. He was listed as the top keynote speaker of the event. Flynn was Trump’s national security adviser for less than a month and resigned after it was revealed he lied about conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States. Trump pardoned Flynn in November after he twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
The question regarding the Myanmar coup didn’t exactly come out of nowhere. QAnon supporters have been praising the Feb. 1 coup for months while calling on the U.S. military to take similar action. The coup sparked protests across the country that were brutally cracked down by the military. More than 800 civilians have been killed since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. More than 5,000 have been arrested.
As Flynn’s comments spread on social media, some were quick to call for him to be court-martialed. Steve Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law, noted on Twitter that Flynn is still subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice as a retired Army officer. This was hardly the first time Flynn has argued the military could be used to resolve political disputes in the United States. In December, Flynn suggested the military could be deployed to rerun the election in four swing states where Trump lost. “People out there talk about martial law like it’s something that we’ve never done,” Flynn told Newsmax. “Martial law has been instituted 64 times.”
