Guards assigned to the Capitol will also wear a protective helmet, gas masks and Kevlar armor, she said.
She emphasized that members of the Guard are trained to “try everything to alleviate the situation before having to draw the weapon and use it” as part of the response to civil unrest.
Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy approved the request by federal and local armed guards to support law enforcement that protects the Capitol on Tuesday, Johnson said.
Defense officials and civilian officials are considering the possibility of arming up to 15,000 guards from across the country who must be sent to Washington to respond to the violent protests before the inauguration.
Before Wednesday’s invasion of the Capitol by a pro-Trump crowd, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser deliberately sought to limit the military’s role in the city’s response to planned protests. She requested that the guards stationed at the scene be disarmed.
But that calculation has changed in recent days, as police have received credible threats from armed militias planning to move to the Capitol in the days leading up to January 20, especially if the House voted to impeach Trump for the second time. time on Wednesday.
“We want our individuals to have the right to self-defense,” General Daniel Hokanson, head of the National Guard’s Office, told reporters on the Monday before the decision. “If senior leadership determines that this is the right posture, then this is something we will do.”