U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and 20 other members of the Senate’s Democratic caucus are demanding to know whether the Trump Administration will deploy the military to contain racial justice demonstrations enduring across the country, and the details of any such operation.

“President Trump’s behavior over the last three years has repeatedly politicized our Armed Forces and portrayed their mission not as one to protect and defend the Constitution, but rather to protect and defend his political interests,” the senators wrote.  “America is not a ‘battlespace’ and protestors should never be ‘dominated’ by the government or the military,” the letter continued, referring to U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper’s comments during a Monday call with governors.

The June 3 letter to Esper and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark A. Milley, whom President Donald Trump has charged with halting the protests, comes as Pentagon officials have expressed concern over the apparent military role that Trump envisions for the domestic unrest. The National Guard is currently investigating videos of its helicopters flying low over the streets of Washington, D.C. to apparently intimidate protestors.

Demonstrations have occurred daily since late last week, after Minneapolis man George Floyd died in police custody, and the video of an officer with his knee on the compliant Floyd’s neck for nine minutes circulated worldwide. Protesters and the media have described police departments as instigating trouble through excessive use of force.

The senators asked to know whether the White House intended to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 to justify sending soldiers into cities, as well as whether the Defense Department would deploy the military against the will of state and local leaders. They also presented a series of logistical questions about whether soldiers would fall under civilian or military law, and what the chain of command would look like.

“Will the servicemembers receive training concerning protests, riots, implicit bias, contextual sensitivity, and/or restraint? Will the servicemembers be authorized to use lethal force?” the senators wondered. “What is their designated mission? Will they be authorized to make arrests, and if so, under what circumstances?”

The senators set a Friday deadline for the Pentagon to respond.