The Pentagon released an unusual statement Thursday debunking a rumor circulating online that U.S. troops were authorized to use force against American citizens during the election.

Former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others have spread inaccurate information suggesting that a Defense Department policy change in late September was precisely timed to affect the Nov. 5 presidential election.

“…Biden/Harris just enforced DoD Directive 5240.01, which gives the Pentagon – for the first time in history – the power to use lethal force to kill Americans on U.S. soil who protest government policies “Posted Kennedy on X to his post 4 million followers.

U.S. law prohibits federal troops on American soil from using force against U.S. civilians except in cases of self-defense, as outlined in the Posse Comitatus Act.

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The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. (STAFF/AFP via Getty Images)

The cited revision, Department of Defense Directive (DODD) 5240.01, does not allow troops to use force against U.S. citizens. The timing of the release had nothing to do with the election, Pentagon spokeswoman Sue Gough told The Associated Press.

“The Department of Defense use of force policies addressed in DoDD 5240.01 are not new and do not authorize the Department of Defense to use lethal force against U.S. citizens or people in the United States, contrary to rumors and rhetoric circulating in the social media Media circulates,” Gough said in a statement.

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Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks in Kyiv, Ukraine, Oct. 21. (Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

The Pentagon updates its guidelines regularly. This update, made on September 27, was intended to align use-of-force language from other guidelines to 5240.01, which applies only to Defense Intelligence personnel.

“Defense Intelligence Components may provide personnel to assist a federal department or agency, including a federal law enforcement agency, or a state or local law enforcement agency when life is at risk, in response to such a request for assistance,” it said.

The directive states that the Secretary of Defense will provide “assistance in response with assets with lethal potential” or “any situation in which it is reasonably foreseeable that the provision of the requested assistance may involve the use of force likely to result in lethal force.” “, must sign including death or serious bodily harm.”

Former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spread inaccurate information about Defense Department policy. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

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Defense intelligence personnel are permitted to provide information, analysis, training, equipment and weapons to civilian authorities. However, they cannot use violence themselves.

Greg Norman of Fox News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.