DC Mayor Muriel Bowser urges people to avoid DC as the national guard plans to have up to 15,000 troops in the city

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser urges people to avoid DC as the national guard plans to have up to 15,000 troops in the city

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Meanwhile, the National Guard plans to have up to 15,000 National Guard troops to meet current and future inauguration requests, Gen. Daniel Hokanson, head of the National Watch Bureau, said Monday. The dramatic increase in troops comes as a result of law enforcement in the country’s capital and across the country for further extremist violence amid the transition of power.

At a news conference on Monday, Bowser, a Democrat, stressed that she was concerned about more violent actors likely to come to the city in the run-up to the inauguration, saying: “if I’m afraid of anything, it’s for our democracy , because we have many extreme factions in our country that are armed and dangerous. ‘

“Trumpism will not die on January 20,” said Bowser, who asked Trump and acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf to declare a statement before DC for DC.

“Our goals now are to encourage Americans to virtually participate and protect the District of Columbia from a repeat of the violent uprising experienced on January 6 at the Capitol and its grounds,” Bowser said.

She also asks the Trump administration to cancel public collection permits between January 10 and 24.

The request for emergency declaration by Bowser would unlock additional funding for the city’s security efforts for the inauguration. The mayor finally ruled in a letter to Trump over the weekend that, despite the security assets the city has in place, “there is still a significant gap that cannot be repaired without this emergency declaration and direct federal assistance.”

Bowser told CBS ‘”Face the Nation” on Sunday that she would also ask the Department of Homeland Security to launch a timeline of a “national special security event” as well as include the U.S. Capitol in their coverage for the inauguration. .

Last month, Biden’s camp urged people not to travel to DC for the inauguration, citing the worsening coronavirus pandemic. Rather, the abbreviated festivities include a virtual program to get Americans to participate from home.

The National Park Service also announced Monday that it will close the Washington Monument to visitors for more than two weeks, a period that includes the inauguration.

The park service said it could also set up “temporary closures of public access to roads, parking areas and restrooms within the National Mall and Memorial Parks to protect public safety and park resources.”

A senior defense official told CNN on Monday that National Guard troops already earmarked for the inauguration are starting to arrive, and plan to have 10,000 in the city.

There’s a full exercise with troops in DC this week. The justice department will be extra robust with virtually every cabinet department and law enforcement agency joining, the official said.

There are currently 6,200 members of the National Guard already mobilized following the attack on the Capitol last week by Trump supporters.

This story has been updated with additional reporting and background information.

CNN’s Ali Main, Gregory Wallace, Pete Muntean and Paul LeBlanc contributed to this report.

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