The Pentagon on Friday authorized as many as 25,000 National Guardsmen to support federal law enforcement during the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris next week.
“The Defense Department has agreed to provide up to 25,000 service members to support the Presidential Inauguration National Special Security Event federal law enforcement mission and security preparations, as led by the U. S. Secret Service,” the National Guard said in a statement.
The statement said the Army and the National Guard are “working on a sourcing solution” to support the request, and that every state, territory, and the District of Columbia will have National Guardsmen supporting the inauguration.
At least 7,000 National Guardsmen are already in D. C. now from at least 13 states: D.C., Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.
The Secret Service, Capitol Police, and U. S. Park Police requested support from the National Guard, according to the latter entity. The Secret Service is the lead federal agency coordinating security for the inaug... (Read more)
Submitted 1168 days ago
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