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The Pentagon issued a statement debunking a rumor that US troops are authorized to use force against Americans during the upcoming election.

Let’s bring you up to speed: Earlier this week on X, former Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed that the Department of Defense had revised a directive authorizing military force against American citizens protesting government policies. Kennedy claimed that DoD Directive 5240.01, updated in late September, now grants the Pentagon the unprecedented power to use lethal force on US soil and suggested this timing was a strategy to interfere with the upcoming November election.

So what does DoD Directive 5240.01 do?: According to updated documents released by the Pentagon, DoD Directive 5240.01 establishes guidelines for how defense intelligence personnel can support civilian law enforcement agencies under specific conditions. The directive permits defense intelligence personnel to provide intelligence, analysis, training, equipment, and weapons to support federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies when requested, particularly in situations involving threats to life. However, the directive does not authorize these personnel to use force themselves; any support involving lethal assets must be approved by the Secretary of Defense.

What the Pentagon is saying: In a statement to the Associated Press, the Pentagon said, “The policies concerning the use of force by DOD [Department of Defense] addressed in DoDD 5240.01 are not new, and do not authorize the DOD to use lethal force against U.S. citizens or people located inside the United States, contrary to rumors and rhetoric circulating on social media.”