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The United States capital has mobilized the National Guard ahead of planned protests by Donald Trump supporters in the run-up to the Congressional vote affirming Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
Trump supporters plan to demonstrate on Tuesday and Wednesday, seeking to bolster the president’s unproven claims of widespread voter fraud.
DC police have posted signs throughout downtown warning that carrying any type of firearm is illegal and their acting police chief, Robert Contee, asked residents to warn authorities of anyone who might be navy. “There are people trying to come to our city armed,” Contee said Monday.
It comes when Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the far-right violent group Proud Boys, was arrested in DC and charged with destruction of property, related to an earlier pro-Trump protest, and a firearms crime.
Trump has repeatedly encouraged protests this week and hinted that he might get personally involved. Over the weekend, he retweeted a promo for the rally with the message: “I’ll be there. Historic day! “
The rallies are scheduled to coincide with the official Congressional vote on Wednesday to certify the electoral college votes for the November presidential election and declare Biden the winner.
A newly elected congresswoman raised the issue of firearms in the capital on Sunday and vowed to carry her weapon in Congress. Contee reminded Republican Lauren Boebert of Rifle, Colorado, that she would be “subject to the same penalties as anyone caught on the streets of DC carrying a firearm.”
As downtown DC businesses boarded up their windows, Mayor Muriel Bowser requested a limited deployment of the National Guard to help bolster the metropolitan police department. During a press conference Monday, Bowser called on local residents to stay out of downtown DC and avoid clashes with anyone “looking for a fight.” But, he warned, “we will not allow people to incite violence, intimidate our residents, or cause destruction in our city.”
Photograph: Susan Walsh / AP
According to a U.S. defense official, Bowser submitted a request on New Year’s Eve for members of the Guard to take to the streets Tuesday through Thursday to help with the protests. The official said the additional forces will be used for traffic control and other assistance, but will not be armed or wear bulletproof vests.
About 340 members of the DC National Guard will be activated, with about 115 on duty on the streets at any one time, said the defense official, who provided details on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The official said members of the Guard will be used to establish traffic control points around the city and to be with district police officers at all metro stops in the city. Contee said the Guard troops will also be used for crowd management.
Contee said: “Some of our intelligence certainly suggests that there will be an increase in crowd size.”
Because DC does not have a governor, the designated commander of the city’s National Guard is Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy. Any request from D .. for Guard deployments must be approved by him.
The defense official said there will be no active duty military troops in the city, and the military will not provide any aircraft or intelligence. The DC Guard will provide specialized teams that will be prepared to respond to any chemical or biological incident. But the official said there will be no DC Guard members on the National Mall or on Capitol Hill.
In previous pro-Trump protests, police closed Black Lives Matter Plaza, but the clashes simply spread to surrounding streets. Contee said Monday that sealing the area again was “a very real possibility,” but said the decision would depend on the circumstances. “We know that historically during the last protests, BLM plaza has been a focal point,” Contee said. “We want to make sure that is not a problem.”
The National Park Service received three separate requests for pro-Trump protests on Tuesday or Wednesday, with a maximum turnout estimated at around 15,000 people, spokesman Mike Litterst said. On Monday, a stage was being set for one of the protests at The Ellipse, south of the White House.
Organizers plan to demonstrate Tuesday night and again all day Wednesday, including a 1 pm march to the Capitol. Expected attendees include high-level Trump supporters such as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Republican strategist Roger Stone, a longtime Trump devotee whose three-year prison sentence was commuted by Trump. Stone was convicted of repeatedly lying to Congress during the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections.
During the pro-Trump protests on December 12, at least two local black churches had BLM banners pulled down and set ablaze. Contee said the hate crime investigation into those incidents was ongoing and that his officers would be present in churches to prevent similar incidents.
With Associated Press
