The national guard will increase the number of troops in Washington, DC, to at least 10,000 by Saturday to strengthen security before next week’s inauguration, the guard’s officer said.
Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson, who heads the National Watch Bureau, said in a press release on Monday that troop levels could rise to 15,000. He did not specify from which states the members of the Guard would come, whether they would be armed or the details of their mission.
The planned deployments represent an increase in the approximately 6,200 troops that arrived from six states in response to a pro-Trump crowd’s violent attack on the Capitol on Wednesday after the president encouraged his supporters to march to the legislature while legislators met there to ratify election votes. . The reinforced force would be greater than the contingents of guards during the inauguration in the past. About 9,000 were in Washington for the inauguration of President Obama, Gen. Hokanson said.
The decision to deploy more guard personnel comes after military planners and local law enforcers assessed their planned security stance and discussed how many more troops could be useful.
Following the deadly assault on the Capitol on Wednesday, Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller formally approved the deployment of 6,200 guards from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia and Maryland. The first one arrived on Thursday morning and is currently securing the perimeter around the Capitol and providing other logistical support.