WASHINGTON (AP) – The mayor of Washington, DC called for calm on Monday as about 340 National Guard troops were being activated as the city prepared for potentially violent protests over the Congressional vote to claim the president-elect’s victory Joe Biden.
According to a US defense officer, Mayor Muriel Bowser made a request on New Year’s Eve for members of the Guard on the streets from January 5 to 7, to assist in the protests. The official said that members of the DC National Guard will be used for traffic control and other assistance, but will not be armed or wearing armor. Congress will meet this week to certify the results of the Electoral College, and President Donald Trump has refused to budge while raising support for the protests.
During a press conference on Monday, Bowser asked people to stay away from downtown DC and avoid confrontations with those “looking for a fight”. But, she warned, “we will not allow people to incite violence, intimidate our residents or cause destruction in our city”.
There will be about 115 Guard soldiers on duty at any time in the city, said the defense officer, who provided details on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The official said that members of the Guard will be used to install traffic control points around the city and to accompany district police at all metro stations in the city. Acting police chief Robert Contee said that Guard troops will also be used to control the crowd.
“Part of our intelligence certainly suggests that there will be an increase in the size of the crowd,” said Contee, adding: “There are people who intend to come to our city armed.”
Since DC doesn’t have a governor, the city’s designated National Guard commander is Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy. Any DC request for Guard deployments must be approved by him.
The defense official said there will be no active military troops in the city and that the United States military will not provide aircraft or intelligence. DC Guard will provide specialized teams that will be prepared to respond to any chemical or biological incident. But the official said there will be no members of the DC Guard at the National Mall or the United States Capitol.