EXCLUSIVE: Washington, DC’s national troops stationed in the city “will not be armed”, at the request of Mayor Muriel Bowser, as the country’s capital backs for major protests and unrest following the verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin , former Minneapolis police officer. , Fox News has learned.
Chauvin was convicted Tuesday in the death of George Floyd of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Fox News has learned that hundreds of troops are being deployed to protect civilians from protests, riots and looting at 30 different locations across the city, but it is all forbidden to carry any weapon or weapons, as instructed by Bowser’s office, and approval. by the acting secretary of the army.
Bowser’s office sent a letter to Major General William Walker of the DC National Guard earlier this month asking for troops to be “activated” to assist the DC Metropolitan Police Department.
“No DCNG personnel will be armed or involved in any law enforcement activity during this activation,” the letter wrote to Walker, of the director of DC’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, Christopher Rodriguez, earlier this month.
The Bowser administration also told Walker that “the mission of the DCNG during this activation will be primarily crowd management, ‘Quick Response Force’ (QRF) and to assist in blocking vehicles at traffic posts.”
Several National Guard sources told Fox News that the troops were ‘furious’ about the request, with one comparing the order to ‘boycotts with reflective jackets’.
In another letter Fox News received from acting Army Secretary John Whitley to Walker, Whitley said DC National Guard “will not be armed for this support mission.”
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“They may be equipped with safety jackets and illuminated traffic schedules, as requested by MPD,” Whitley wrote, adding that National Guard troops will have ‘personal protective equipment, including helmets, plate carriers and ballistic plates’, as well as ‘civilian disturbance’. equipment, including clubs and shields for personal protection “at their disposal.
Meanwhile, according to internal documents reviewed by Fox News, Bowser also asked the Secretary of Defense that more troops from the Capitol be re-assigned to the streets of DC.