Tag: national guard

5,000 National Guard Troops to Stay in DC Through March, Some Returning Home

Following a controversial deployment to the nation’s capital to defend and protect the inauguration, at least 5,000 National Guard members will remain in Washington through mid-march. 

“As we continue to work to meet the final post-inauguration requirements, the National Guard has been requested to continue supporting federal law enforcement agencies with 7,000 members and will draw down to 5,000 through mid-March,” Maj. Matt Murphy told the Epoch Times. 

“We are providing assistance such as security, communications, medical evacuations, logistics and safety support to state, district and federal agencies,” he added. 

One-thousand of these National Guard troops are from Virginia, according to Virginia National Guard officials. 

“Virginia National Guard personnel are remaining on duty following the Presidential Inauguration at the request of local and federal authorities, and they will remain on duty until those agencies no longer require our direct support,” Maj. Gen. Timothy P. Williams said. 

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Impeachment trial to keep National Guard troops at Capitol

Former President Donald Trump’s upcoming Senate impeachment trial poses a security concern that federal law enforcement officials told lawmakers last week requires as many as 5,000 National Guard troops to remain in Washington through mid-March, according to four people familiar with the matter.

The contingency force will help protect the Capitol from what was described as “impeachment security concerns,” including the possibility of mass demonstrations coinciding with the Senate’s trial, which is slated to begin the week of Feb. 8.

Despite the threat, the citizen soldiers on the ground say they have been given little information about the extension and wonder why they are being forced to endure combat-like conditions in the nation’s capital without a clear mission.

“Quite frankly this is not a ‘combat zone,’ so combat conditions shouldn’t apply,” said one Guard member on the ground in D.C. who has deployed twice to Afghanistan.

Several National Guard units have seen their deployments extended involuntarily, though a majority of Guardsmen remaining in Washington will do so on a volunteer basis. Around 7,000 troops will continue to provide riot security through the beginning of February, with that number decreasing slightly to 5,000 by the time Trump’s impeachment trial begins.

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National Guard at Capitol Authorized to Use Lethal Force in Aftermath of Mob

“On January 12, 2021, National Guardsmen were given authorization to be armed in support of the U.S. Capitol Police to protect the U.S. Capitol and individual members of Congress and their staff,” according to a statement from the D.C. National Guard, which is commanding Guard forces in the city, including units deployed from six other states, to provide security for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration next week.

A defense official confirmed the authorization includes permission for Guard troops to use lethal force.

The request came from federal authorities and was approved by Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy – who oversees D.C. Guard deployments since the District is not a state – indicating it was not a request from the local government.

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National Guard Spy Plane Monitored Racial Justice Protest in Sleepy Sacramento Suburb Where Commander Lives: Report

Residents of a Sacramento suburb were left scratching their heads and asking questions on Sunday following a report that a National Guard spy plane was deployed to the largely gated community—where the commander of the California National Guard resides—to monitor racial justice protests earlier this year. 

The Los Angeles Times reports RC-26 reconnaissance planes were deployed to monitor protests in three major cities in early June: Washington, D.C., Phoenix, and Minneapolis, where police killed George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, on May 25.

A fourth RC-26  was dispatched to an unlikely location: the affluent Sacramento suburb of El Dorado Hills, where it—along with an Air National Guard Lakota helicopter—watched protesters below. 

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