Pentagon authorizes arming of National Guard members supporting Capitol Hill security

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The move comes as law enforcement in the nation’s capital and across the country brace for more extremist violence after the deadly insurgency on the U.S. Capitol last week. The first wave of National Guard troops that arrived on Capitol Hill were unarmed, and the military considered whether National Guards should be armed for the inauguration with lethal weapons or not.

DC National Guard spokesman Captain Chelsi Johnson said in a statement to CNN that the move was requested by federal authorities and authorized by Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy.

“Members of the National Guard are stationed to meet the demands of supported civilian authorities, up to and including protective gear and be armed if necessary,” Johnson said.

The National Guard has planned to have up to 15,000 National Guard troops to meet current and future groundbreaking requests, General Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard bureau said Monday.

The New York Times first reported on the Pentagon’s decision to arm National Guard troops deployed to Washington for security ahead of the inauguration.
The US military is working with the Secret Service to determine if there are any soldiers who will be part of the National Guard contingent providing security during Biden’s inauguration and who require additional background checks, CNN previously reported .

The DC National Guard is also providing additional training to service members upon their arrival in Washington to emphasize that if they see or hear anything that is not appropriate, they should report it to their chain of command, a porter said. army word in a written statement to CNN.

“There is no room for extremism in the military and we will investigate each report individually and take appropriate action,” the spokesperson said.

“The military is committed to working closely with the FBI to identify individuals who participated in the violent attack on Capitol Hill to determine if these individuals have any connection to the military,” the statement said while adding that any type of activity “involves violence, civil disobedience or a breach of the peace” may be punished under the Uniform Code of Military Justice or under state and federal laws.

Current Department of Defense policy requires that all members of the service be trained annually under a program that requires departmental personnel to report “any information regarding known or suspected extremist behavior that could pose a threat to the department or the United States, “the statement said.

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