The National Guard will deploy 10,000 troops to increase the security in advance of next week presidential inauguration. The head of National guard said an additional 5,000 could be asked from other states if necessary.
In a call with reporters, army general Daniel R. Hokanson, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, said, “Approximately 6,000 guards from six different states are already in Washington, D.C. And if required, we’ll ask the military to expand it to about 10,000 by the weekend.”
He further said, “The number of deployment will be changing as per the Secret Service, the Park Police, and the Capitol Police requests. All the National Guards will be weapons to Washington. They can also carry them after the decision taken by the FBI, police and other agencies. “
“Obviously, we’re very concerned that we want our individuals to have the right to self-defence,” the general said. “And so, that will be an ongoing conversation, and if the senior leadership determines that that’s the right posture to be in, then that is something that we will do.”
Why Was the Security Compromised at the Capitol?
When reporters asked repeated questions about why these Guards weren’t brought in more quickly to control the U.S. Capitol riots which happened last Wednesday, on this, the guards official just said, “we responded as quickly as we could. But the situation spiralled out of control. And the Capitol police also repeatedly turned down each offer of help in the days before the protests.”
Before the violence, only 340 National guards were appointed, and nobody was posted outside the Capitol. Rather, most of them were designated to control traffic in other parts of the city. As neither the Capitol Police and the Pentagon made an emergency plan at the home of Congress.