WASHINGTON – National Guard troops invading Washington to protect the Capitol for Inauguration Day will be armed, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy decided, Defense Department officials said on Tuesday.
Armed troops will be responsible for security around the Capitol building complex, officials said.
As some 15,000 soldiers continued to arrive in Washington from across the country, Department of Defense officials were considering whether to deploy them with weapons. McCarthy decided that at least those around the Capitol building will carry weapons, officials said, who confirmed the decision on condition of anonymity.
McCarthy’s decision came after a meeting with spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat. Ms. Pelosi, according to members of the Congressional team, demanded that the Pentagon assume a more muscular stance after a crowd, instigated by President Trump last week, invaded the Capitol.
Pentagon officials say they are deeply concerned about the protests that are planned for President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s inauguration next week. About 16 groups – some of them saying they will be armed and the majority made up of hardline Trump supporters – have signed up to protest in Washington, officials said.
A Defense Department official said law enforcement agencies are planning a series of results, including a worst-case scenario in which people with firearms try to attack dignitaries, “suicide-type aircraft” try to fly into airspace. restricted from the capital and even remotely. controlled drones that can be used to attack the crowd.
While these scenarios are among the most extreme, officials said they were particularly concerned about the possibility of multiple violent clashes, including firearms, simultaneously exploding around the dignitaries in possession.
Washington’s Mayor Muriel Bowser sent a letter to Trump on Sunday asking for an emergency statement to obtain additional funding for the security of the inauguration.
“In light of the attack on the Capitol and intelligence suggesting that more violence is likely during the inaugural period, my government reevaluated our stance in preparation for the inauguration, including requesting the extension of DC National Guard support until January 24, 2021 , ”Mrs. Bowser wrote.
Defense Department officials said the White House approved the decision to arm some of the National Guard troops who come to Washington to provide security. Pentagon officials stressed that the National Guard – not active military troops – will be assigned to these functions.
Defense Department officials said that even National Guard troops who were not directly supporting the Capitol complex, but were stationed elsewhere in the Washington area, would not be far from their weapons.
“We want our individuals to have the right to self-defense,” General Daniel R. Hokanson, head of the National Guard’s Office, said on Monday during a telephone press conference. “If senior leadership determines that this is the right posture, then this is something we will do.”
All National Guard troops coming to Washington, he said, are bringing their weapons.
The National Guard is expected to officially announce the armament of some of the troops on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. The decision is important because, in the past, federal and local authorities have avoided militarizing the Capitol.
But last week’s riots focused on the potential dangers that lawmakers and, potentially, the next president face from Trump’s supporters, who continue to falsely claim that he, and not Biden, won the election.