Service members deployed to Washington in response to protests over the killing of George Floyd were given bayonets, according to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The soldiers were given bayonets but were told to keep them in their scabbards and not attach them to their rifles, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley wrote to two House lawmakers in a letter obtained by the Associated Press. Service members were also told not to bring their weapons into the city without clear orders and only after nonlethal options were considered first.