Have you been asking the question: why is the National Guard still in Washington, D.C. and what is supposed to be there mission there now?
They were delegated to the city after what happened at the Capitol on Jan. 6. But they’ve remained, now, even after the inauguration now for no real clearly stated reasons.
As I reported previously there were more than 25,000 there during the inauguration. Now at least eight governors including the governors of Texas, Florida and New Hampshire have called their guard units back after the way they were treated and made to take rest periods in an unheated garage. Gov. Ron De Santis chastised House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for the way they were treated. “They’re not Nancy Pelosi’s servants,” he said. He also called the undefined mission “half-cocked.” It would seem that as a governor they should be telling him what was going on but apparently not.
But there as still some 13,700 troops still there, according to the Washington Examiner.
So today they had a presser about the presence in D.C. and how long they were going to stay.
They said 7,000 are slated to be there at least until Feb. 6 and 5,000 would reportedly stay until the middle of March.
“What I can tell you is in terms of what [the FBI is] briefing us is, there are several upcoming events,” acting Army Secretary John Whitley told reporters….Whitley said FBI briefings had indicated that upcoming lawful “First Amendment-protected protests” could be used by “malicious actors” to incite more violence.
“We are posturing our forces to be able to respond to those threats if they emerge,” he added.
There was speculation that it was in part because of the ridiculous impeachment trial. So if true, chalk up another negative effect of Democrats trying to destroy their political opponents.
Whitley refused to comment on any specific threats, what they might have to do with or at who/what the threats might be directed.
Meanwhile Guard members are saying they haven’t been given an official justification for the continued presence or defined mission. “There is no defined situation, or mission statement … This is very unusual for any military mission,” said one, according to The Hill. “We are usually given a situation, with defined mission perimeters, and at least a tentative plan on how to execute those objectives.”
So neither the governors nor the Guardsmen themselves have any idea of their mission there anymore? Doesn’t that strike anyone as a problem? I don’t think I’ve ever heard National Guard speak out before like this so that tells you something about what they’re thinking.
Not only were they treated poorly in regard to their rest area but they’re also all packed together there, a dangerous thing in the middle of a pandemic, with more people getting it. At least 200 National Guard members deployed to D.C. for the inauguration have now tested positive for the virus. That was bound to happen with traveling from their states and being kept close together.
But at the presser, they didn’t clarify how many had the virus and didn’t explain how the guard members stuck in the garage came to be that way after getting booted from the Capitol.
Apparently at least one member decided to share a pointed message with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, allegedly extending his two middle fingers outside an office that bore her name and some his fellows taking a picture of it. Pelosi is the one who has requested their presence at the Capitol. Apparently he was observed by a Capitol Police officer and he’s now under investigation.