National Guard Increases Washington, D.C., Troop Levels to at Least 10,000

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National Guard Bolsters Washington, D.C., Troop Levels to at Least 10,000


WSJ

The National Guard will increase the number of troops in Washington, D.C., to at least 10,000 by Saturday to bolster security in advance of next week’s presidential inauguration, the Guard’s top officer said.

Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson, who is in charge of the National Guard Bureau, said in a press briefing Monday that the troop levels could rise to 15,000. He didn’t specify which states the Guard members would come from, whether they would be armed or the details of their mission.

The planned deployments represent an increase from the roughly 6,200 troops who arrived from six states in response to a pro-Trump mob’s violent attack on the Capitol Wednesday after the president urged his supporters to march on the legislature while lawmakers were meeting there to certify electoral votes. The bolstered force would be larger than contingents of Guardsmen at past inaugurations. Roughly 9,000 were in Washington for President Obama’s inauguration, Gen. Hokanson said.

The decision to deploy more Guard personnel came after military planners and local law enforcement evaluated their planned security posture and discussed how many more troops could be useful.

After Wednesday’s deadly assault on the Capitol, Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller formally approved deploying 6,200 Guardsmen from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia and Maryland. The first of those arrived Thursday morning and are currently securing the perimeter around the Capitol and conducting other logistical support.

Gen. Hokanson said the U.S. Park Police, Secret Service and Capitol Police asked for additional forces, which led to a new analysis of the U.S. National Guard posture and, subsequently, to the approval for more troops.

The increase comes after federal, state and local agencies struggled to sort through lines of command and coordinate a forceful response to last week’s assault as it spiraled beyond their control. Lawmakers and local officials said they had exhorted security officials for help, which was slow in arriving.

Since then, authorities in Washington and elsewhere have been bracing for more potential actions by some of President Trump’s supporters. The Site Intelligence Group, which tracks extremist threats online, said in a report over the weekend that a day of armed far-right protests is being planned for Jan. 17, ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

Others online are touting a Million Militia March in Washington on Inauguration Day, according to screenshots provided by Meili Criezis, a research associate tracking violent extremism at American University.

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