David, Weston: On the violence in our midst (Opinion)

One sees increasing levels of violence within the United States every day. As recently noted in The Wall Street Journal, the Trump administration is ordering the use of military force in American cities to “quell the enemy within.”

This is not the first time. Historically, one main domestic enemy targeted by armed federal intervention has been the American labor movement. First were railroad strikes, including the 1877 railroad strike that centered in West Virginia’s eastern panhandle. These were followed by the Pullman Strike in 1894. Over the next 50 years, federal troops were used in nearly 20 major labor disputes. All entailed workers facing off against those with wealth.

A key targeted union was the United Mine Workers of America. In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson ordered that feder