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President Trump signed an executive order Monday that reverses Obama-era restrictions on transfers of military equipment 鈥斅爎anging from armored trucks to grenade launchers 鈥斅爐o local police departments, including those operated by public school districts.

Signed into law in 1997, the federal 鈥�1033 Program鈥� distributed surplus military equipment to civilian law enforcement agencies across the country, reportedly including . For example, the America鈥檚 second-largest public school system, used the program to obtain a mine-resistant vehicle, grenade launchers, and more than 60 M-16 rifles. In Detroit, school officials obtained six bomb disposal robots.

Following unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, then-President Barack Obama in 2015 that banned the federal distribution of some military-style equipment to local police, including armored vehicles and ammunition of .50 caliber or higher. That order blocked participation among police agencies 鈥渟olely serving schools ranging from kindergarten through grade 12.鈥� That language didn鈥檛 extend to districts that enter contracts with local police departments to place officers in schools.

罢谤耻尘辫鈥檚 voids that Obama-era executive action.

Speaking to the Fraternal Order of Police on Monday in Nashville, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said 罢谤耻尘辫鈥檚 order will ensure police departments have access to life-saving gear like Kevlar vests and helmets. The program鈥檚 revival will also send a strong message, he said, that the federal government 鈥渨ill not allow criminal activity, violence, and lawlessness to become a new normal鈥� and will save taxpayers money. The 1033 program, he said, 鈥減rovided and recycled more than $5.4 billion in used gear and equipment that taxpayers had already purchased, and made it available to your agencies, to repurpose it in the fight against terrorism, crime, and for disaster relief.鈥�

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Civil rights groups, however, have long accused the program of militarizing civilian police agencies. In 2014, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Texas Appleseed to the Department of Defense鈥檚 Defense Logistics Agency calling for a moratorium on the program, pointing to participation among school districts in Texas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Nevada, and Utah. Janel George, the fund鈥檚 education policy counsel, said in a 2014 statement that use of military equipment intensified interactions in Ferguson between community members and police.

鈥淭hose same tensions are playing out in our schools between students of color and school police where implicit bias, broad discretion, and little accountability are resulting in excessive use of force, expulsions, and suspensions for minor offenses, and referrals to the juvenile justice system,鈥� George said. 鈥淎dding military weapons will only exacerbate existing tensions and negatively impact students most vulnerable to overly punitive discipline 鈥� especially students of color.鈥�

Ahead of Monday鈥檚 announcement, Janai Nelson, the fund鈥檚 associate director-counsel, called reviving the program 鈥渆xceptionally dangerous and irresponsible.鈥�

In a series of Tweets on Monday morning, Sen. Rand Paul, Republican from Kentucky, slammed 罢谤耻尘辫鈥檚 order, calling the militarization of police 鈥渁n unprecedented expansion of government power.鈥�

The Los Angeles district, which came under widespread scrutiny for its participation in the program,聽 that it had returned its stockpile of military weapons to the federal government.

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