National Guard members help law enforcement officers line up while helping police disperse protesters who are gathering at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Katopodis Tasos | Getty Images
The DC National Guard will be placed on a 30-day mobilization, ensuring that they are available for President-elect Joe Biden to take office on January 20, two defense officials told NBC News.
Troops, who are unarmed, will monitor air traffic control points and provide support to the Capitol Police on Thursday, as officials work to protect the perimeter around the Capitol, the day after a crowd supporting the president Donald Trump invaded him.
About 200 soldiers with riot gear will be on the streets in the morning and more likely to come later in the day, a defense official said.
The mobilization comes at a time when the country continues to process Wednesday’s surprising turmoil, in which at least four people died. All four living ex-presidents condemned the day’s events, in which a violent crowd interrupted lawmakers from the typically superficial process of formally confirming Biden’s victory.
The DC National Guard was mobilized during the riots and about 1,100 soldiers were sent to help local police suppress the insurrection, the Pentagon said. The rollout came after Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi requested force, two sources told NBC News.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced plans to send National Guard troops to DC as well.
President Donald Trump, who spoke at a rally to protest the election results shortly before his supporters infiltrated Congress, did not condemn the unrest or admit defeat. He encouraged protesters to be peaceful after they invaded the Capitol.
The president continued to make unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud, despite conclusions to the contrary from the departments of Justice and Homeland Security of his own government. A person familiar with the matter told NBC News that Trump had to be convinced to approve the deployment of the National Guard on Wednesday.
It is typical for the National Guard to be present for inaugurations, and more than 7,000 soldiers were mobilized for Trump’s inauguration in 2017. It is unclear how many will be deployed for Biden’s inauguration.
Biden’s tenure is expected to be very different from previous ceremonies as a result of public health precautions.
Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will take their oaths of office at the Capitol on January 20, but have changed tradition to adapt to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Biden transition team said it is reimagining the typical National Mall meeting and the inaugural Capitol parade to the White House in a way that will allow Americans to participate from home.
Biden condemned the disturbances on Wednesday in a speech broadcast on national television.
“Right now, our democracy is under unprecedented attack,” said the former vice president.
“It is chaos, bordering on sedition and it must end now. I call on this mob to step back and allow the work of democracy to continue,” added Biden.
The demonstrators’ success in breaking through police barriers raised questions about the security precautions that will be in place for the opening.
Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Who is on the Biden tenure planning committee, said on CBS News that “there will have to be major reviews of what happened and the changes made”.
Klobuchar added that, compared to the vote count of the Electoral College, which usually occurs without incident, possession is a major security event every four years.
“Here they had an event that usually follows little historical note,” said Klobuchar.
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