The Republican governors of three states are deploying hundreds of National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., at the request of the administration of President Donald Trump, Reuters reported.
The announcements on Saturday of troops from hundreds of miles away in West Virginia, South Carolina and Ohio came a day after D.C. officials and the Trump administration negotiated a deal to keep Mayor Muriel Bowser’s appointed police chief, Pamela Smith, in charge of the police department after D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit to block the federal takeover of the department.
Trump said this week he was deploying hundreds of D.C. National Guard troops to Washington and temporarily taking over the Democratic-led city’s police department to curb what he depicted as a crime and homelessness emergency.
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey’s office said in a statement he was deploying 300 to 400 National Guard troops to D.C. in “a show of commitment to public safety and regional cooperation.” The statement said he also was providing equipment and specialized training.
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster responded to a Pentagon request by announcing that 200 of his state’s National Guard troops would be sent.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said he would send 150 military police members in the coming days, adding none of them were “currently serving as law enforcement officers in the state.”
After the announcements, Mayor Bowser posted on X: “American soldiers and airmen policing American citizens on American soil is #UnAmerican.”
The National Guard serves as a militia that answers to the governors of the 50 states except when called into federal service. The D.C. National Guard reports directly to the president.
In June, Trump ordered 700 Marines and 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, against the wishes of California’s Democratic governor, during protests over mass immigration raids by federal officials.
South Carolina’s McMaster said his troops would immediately return to South Carolina if needed to respond to a possible hurricane or other natural disaster. Hurricane Erin, now northeast of Puerto Rico, has become a catastrophic Category 5 storm that could bring ocean swells to the U.S. East Coast early next week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Saturday.
Drew Galang, a spokesperson for West Virginia’s Morrisey, said the state’s National Guard received the order to send equipment and personnel to D.C. late on Friday and was working to organize the deployment.
A White House official said on Saturday that more National Guard troops would be called in to Washington to “protect federal assets, create a safe environment for law enforcement officials to carry out their duties when required, and provide a visible presence to deter crime.”
The White House said on Saturday that D.C. National Guard members have conducted patrols on foot and in vehicles around the National Mall and Union Station. The White House said the National Guard troops are not making arrests now and that they may be armed.
