When Lieutenant General John Throckmorton took command of federalized Michigan National Guard troops during the 1967 Detroit riots, his first order to guardsmen was to unload their rifles and pocket their bullets. Asked later at a congressional hearing why he had issued this order, Throckmorton explained, “I was confronted with a group of trigger-happy, nervous soldiers.” A congressman who questioned unloading weapons amidst an urban riot asked Throckmorton how many disarmed guardsmen had subsequently been wounded. “None,” the general replied. Eight Michigan guardsmen had later been
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