Abbott sent 1,000 members of the Texas National Guard to join the 25,000 National Guard troops to assist with the security detail during the inauguration. When the Washington Post released an article reporting that the Pentagon was going to vet the National Guardsmen for “extremist tendencies,” Abbott took to Twitter to torch the idea and make a threat of pulling Texas troops if they ever did this again.
“This is the most offensive thing I’ve ever heard. No one should ever question the loyalty or professionalism of the Texas National Guard,” tweeted Abbott. “I authorized more than 1,000 to go to DC. I’ll never do it again if they are disrespected like this.”
U.S. defense officials said they were worried that an attack may occur from the inside and that some of the members of our military may pose a threat. Thus, the FBI began vetting every trooper working at the Capitol during the inauguration.
“We’re continually going through the process, and taking second, third looks at every one of the individuals assigned to this operation,” said Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy during an interview with AP.
Despite all the concern, McCarthy and other leaders have confessed that they haven’t seen any evidence that there is a threat and that the vetting hasn’t brought any issues to the surface. Regardless, acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller said his department is “leaving no stone unturned in securing the capital.”
Abbott’s anger is more than justified in this case. It’s an insult to the many members of our armed forces that our own government would feel the need to check for ideological radicalism within its ranks strictly out of “fear” that they would attempt to stop the inauguration and possibly upend our government.
As Christopher Arps wrote at RedState, there are more troops guarding the inauguration than there are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. This number is to give off the impression that Trump supporters are violent extremists who may try to storm the Capitol again. It’s more optics than it is for safety.
The fact that they would lump in our guardsmen as untrustworthy is insulting, and Abbott is right to be furious on their behalf.
Two National Guardsman Removed from Inauguration Detail for Belonging to "Fringe Right" Group
According to the Associated Press, who they two guardsmen are nor the group they belonged to has been detailed by officials and no plot has been found:
Two U.S. Army National Guard members are being removed from the security mission to secure Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration. A U.S. Army official and a senior U.S. intelligence official say the two National Guard members have been found to have ties to fringe right group militias.
No plot against Biden was found.
The Army official and the intelligence official spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity due to Defense Department media regulations. They did not say what fringe group the Guard members belonged to or what unit they served in.
Contacted by the AP on Tuesday, the National Guard Bureau referred questions to the U.S. Secret Service and said, “Due to operational security, we do not discuss the process nor the outcome of the vetting process for military members supporting the inauguration.”
The Secret Service told the AP on Monday it would not comment on if any National Guard members had been pulled from securing the inauguration for operational security reasons.
It’s unlikely that any plot by the military or members of our military will actually occur, yet officials are on high alert due to the storming of the Capitol building during the Trump rally earlier this month.
However, with the amount of National Guardsmen put on detail during the inauguration, plus this vetting, it would appear to be more of a political show than an actual measure of safety. This show of military force allows the narrative that Trump supporters are dangerous to thrive. This “fear” may also extend to militia groups.
The fact that they won’t tell us what militia groups these two men belong to is bothersome. There are many militias in America, many of which are completely legal and obey the laws. Militia groups have been viewed as extremists no matter how abiding they are to the law. If these two Guardsmen belonged to militia groups we must ask what the government concludes is “fringe right.”
It may be that these two men really do belong to a fringe group, and if it is fringe, then taking them off the detail may not necessarily be the wrong thing to do. Again, given the current political landscape and attitudes towards those who believe in Constitutional rights being vilified, it’s unclear if these two men were realistically a part of “fringe” groups.