The Pentagon Has Confirmed Request For Extension Of National Guard Mission In Capitol
Michael Cantrell
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The U.S. Capitol Police have requested an extension of the National Guard mission to help provide additional protection for members of Congress and the Capitol grounds according to the Department of Defense.
“We have indeed received a request and DOD is currently considering request,” a defense official told the Washington Examiner. The official did not give any details about the number of troops that have been requested, nor anything about how long the mission will continue.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi chatted with reporters saying that any decisions about keeping the National Guard in D.C. would be made by law enforcement officials.
“The issue about the National Guard is one that will be made by the Capitol Police and the Police Board,” Pelosi said on Thursday. “We should have them here as long as they are needed.”
Presently, 5,200 National Guard members patrol a vast barbed wire-topped perimeter fence around the U.S. Capitol in nearby federal buildings. Lawmakers and governors have protested the need for their presence, and federal agencies have declined to disclose specific details about threats. Troops have been in Washington, D.C., away from their day jobs and families, since after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, carried out by Trump supporters; law enforcement and National Guard officials say there has been credible intelligence chatter about other attempts to sack or blow up the legislative hall, including on Thursday.
Reports indicate the request asks for the National Guard to stay for two more months. The Guard mission is scheduled to end March 12, but officials had not previously said whether fencing and other protective measures would come down. The request for an extended presence suggests the giant black barriers will remain in place.
The defense official could not say when the request was made other than that staff was made aware on Thursday. March 4 is when the U.S. Capitol Police indicated in public statements that an unnamed militia was planning a Capitol breach on or about March 4, the day that has significance for pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy theorists.
Leave it to the Democrats to find a way to prove themselves even bigger hypocrites than the rest of us already thought they were. First, the left hates on the use of walls and fences to keep illegal immigrants out of the country, then turn around and use fences and walls to help protect themselves from supposed domestic terrorists.
Secondly, the Democratic Party has been busy hating on police officers for years, but now, all of a sudden, since they are in alleged danger, they’ve become pro-cop. Funny how quickly calls to abolish police were ended when this came about, huh?
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