The deployment of the National Guard in response to the protests in Washington, D.C., has cost taxpayers about $21 million so far.
The cost includes the deployment of the National Guard from 12 states, a spokesperson for the National Guard told the Daily Beast. About $18.2 million was allocated for pay and allowance, and about $2.9 million went to operations and management, including transportation and lodging.
Costs for aircraft used to transport personnel to D.C. was not included in that tally. It also doesn’t account for other law enforcement personnel that responded to the protests around the city following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a white police officer put a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes as he pleaded that he couldn’t breathe.
Attorney General William Barr said, “All the major law-enforcement components” of the Justice Department helped to quell in the protests, “including the FBI, ATF, DEA, Bureau of Prisons, and U.S. Marshals Service.”
President Trump has defended his decision to deploy the military and law enforcement forces, saying it would stop looting and vandalism.
On June 4, Mayor Muriel Bowser called on Trump to remove federal law enforcement and military from the city, arguing that the personnel are a safety risk to protesters who have been mostly peaceful.
