Your questions about how the National Guard works in D.C., answered.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Mon Jan 11, 2021, 06:12 PM - Edit history (2)

Your questions about how the National Guard works in D.C., answered. https://dcist.com/story/21/01/11/dc-national-guard-deployment-capitol-delay/

Link to tweet

JAN 11, 12:53 PM

Your Questions About How The National Guard Works In D.C., Answered

Dominique Maria Bonessi | https://twitter.com/dbonessi

Capitol Police were underprepared and overwhelmed when violent Trump supporters began breaching the U.S. Capitol last week.

The D.C. National Guard wasn’t far away — troops had already been approved to assist with traffic and crowd control for the day's rallies. But at that point, they lacked the authority to be on Capitol grounds. Ultimately, members of the guard did arrive, but only after hours of chaos at the building.

What caused the delay? And how does the deployment of the National Guard work more broadly? Here’s what we know.

What exactly is the National Guard?

The National Guard is the U.S. military’s domestic force. Each state, the District, and Puerto Rico have their own National Guard units. Troops have occasionally been called upon to serve overseas, as they were in Iraq and Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks. But their main mission is at home. The largest such effort was to help the Gulf states after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

{snip}

[PJMcK]

1. I highly recommend reading this article

It's detailed and informative and explains the curiosities of D.C. law enforcement, etc. Here's the direct link:

https://dcist.com/story/21/01/11/dc-national-guard-deployment-capitol-delay/

To my friend, mahatmakanejeeves: Without the link to the article your post looks like a slam on lazy National Guard soldiers sitting around doing nothing. I'm confident that wasn't your intention since you linked the tweet.

[Thekaspervote]

2. That's not how I see it...

[PJMcK]

3. Please explain (n/t)

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. Yeah, I can see that now. Sorry, not my intent. I'll add the link to the OP.

I'm halfway working and halfway posting, so sometimes I post the tweet, hit "send," and head off to some other computer task.

Thanks for pointing that out.

[PJMcK]

5. You're a gentle person (n/t)