The Army approved the activation of 250 District of Columbia National Guard members beginning Tuesday and lasting through May 9 in response to potential “First Amendment demonstrations” in the capital as anticipation mounts ahead of a jury decision in the criminal case stemming from George Floyd’s death.
The trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has concluded, and a jury is deliberating on whether to convict or acquit the man filmed kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes.
“We are going to be providing traffic control points to the Metropolitan Police Department when requested,” Capt. Chelsi Johnson, a D.C. National Guard spokeswoman, told the Washington Examiner Tuesday.
DC NATIONAL GUARD WILL BE UNARMED FOR ELECTORAL COLLEGE PROTESTS AFTER GEORGE FLOYD FAILURES
Johnson said the city will be able to request a quick reaction force in the event of unrest, but similar to the Jan. 6 riots, that request must first pass through the secretary of the Army at the Pentagon.
She would not say how many people will be part of a quick reaction force or if the National Guard will have riot gear on hand at the traffic stop mission.
“I can’t predict the future, so I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Johnson said. “I do know that in the event that does happen, there are procedures in place if events do start to look like they’re going to go toward a less than peaceful protest.”
Similar questions posed by the Washington Examiner to the D.C. National Guard on Jan. 5 revealed that it was ill-prepared to respond to peaceful protests that quickly turned violent on Jan. 6.
Delays of several hours in the bureaucratic decision-making process at the Pentagon led to National Guard members sitting in vans waiting for approval to change their mission. They would arrive hours after the Capitol had been breached to help form a perimeter.
Johnson assured that protocols are now in place to prevent such delays, but she directed specific questions to the Army.
“The acting Secretary of the Army, John Whitley, has approved the activation of approximately 250 District of Columbia National Guard personnel to support local law enforcement in response to potential First Amendment demonstrations in the District of Columbia,” an Army spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.
The spokesperson said the request was made by the city’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency.
Last June, protests across the nation included one in Lafayette Square, across the street from the White House, which was cleared violently by law enforcement officials with National Guard members standing nearby. The blowback from the Lafayette clearance is believed to have led Army officials to place restrictions on National Guard members that prevented them from assisting the overrun Capitol Police during the Jan. 6 riots. Similarly, National Guard members will again be in a traffic support role and unarmed.
Defense officials consulted by the Washington Examiner could not discuss internal deliberations or any restrictions placed on the use of the National Guard, but a statement released late Monday indicated that the force may have more leeway to respond to a dangerous situation.
“The DCNG is approved to continue support to D.C. and law enforcement as needed until May 9,” the statement said.
“We are prepared to help provide a safe environment for our fellow citizens to exercise their First Amendment right,” Brig. Gen. Aaron R. Dean II, who is also the D.C. National Guard’s adjutant general, said in the statement.
Dean emphasized citizens’ “right to safely and peacefully protest.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Johnson said the D.C. National Guard has been called on multiple times to support peaceful protests.
“This mission I know a lot of people are worried about because the Jan. 6 event,” Johnson said. “We’re not going out in the anticipation that it’s going to go wrong. We want them to be able to have that peaceful demonstration.”
