\n<\/p>\n
\n\tNational Guard troops that President Donald Trump has sent to Washington, D.C., \u201cmay be armed\u201d a White House official told CBS News on Saturday, a departure from a previous statement.<\/p>\n
\n\tOfficials said earlier this week that the troops would not be armed, and that weapons would not be in their vehicles, either. \u201cWeapons are available if needed but will remain in the armory,\u201d the Army said in a press release on Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tOn Saturday, the Trump administration changed course, according to reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe National Guard is not making arrests at this time \u2014 they may be armed, consistent with their mission and training, to protect federal assets, provide a safe environment for law enforcement officers to make arrests, and deter violent crime with a visible law enforcement presence,\u201d the official told CBS News.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThe president is broadly forbidden from using the military as a domestic police force under the Posse Comitatus Act. While the troops are not allowed to make arrests, they are allowed to \u201ctemporarily detain individuals to prevent imminent harm,\u201d according to the Army.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tSome National Guard troops were told Friday to expect an order instructing them to carry weapons, The Wall Street Journal <\/em>reported Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tA National Guard spokesman also told CBS News that troops \u201cmay be armed consistent with their mission and training,\u201d and that \u201ctheir presence is focused on supporting civil authorities and ensuring the safety of the community they serve.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAlso on Saturday, several Republican governors pledged to send troops to D.C. in support of Trump\u2019s initiative. West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said he would deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to the capital.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWest Virginia is proud to stand with President Trump in his effort to restore pride and beauty to our nation\u2019s capital,\u201d Morrisey said in a press release. \u201cThe men and women of our National Guard represent the best of our state, and this mission reflects our shared commitment to a strong and secure America.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n \n\tMeanwhile, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said he would send 200 troops and Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio pledged 150.<\/p>\n \n\tTrump announced Monday that he was deploying the National Guard and putting the capital\u2019s Metropolitan Police Department under federal control \u201cto rescue our nation\u2019s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse.\u201d Attorney General Pam Bondi, he said, would take control of the city\u2019s Metropolitan Police Department \u2014 an effort the administration partially walked back on Friday.<\/p>\n \n\tUnder the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, the president is allowed to take control of the police during an emergency for 48 hours at a time. Trump moved to replace the district\u2019s police chief; the Justice Department changed course at the urging of a federal judge.<\/p>\n \n\tTrump\u2019s decision to deploy the National Guard to D.C. and his attempt to direct the police took place after former Department of Government Efficiency staffer Edward Coristine, known as \u201cBig Balls,\u201d was assaulted by a group of teenagers earlier this month. Trump said Coristine, who works for the Social Security Administration, \u201cwas left dripping in blood. He thought he was dead with a broken nose and concussion.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIn 2020, during the first Trump administration, 62,000 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen were activated in 23 states and Washington, D.C. in response to protests of the police killing of George Floyd.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n \n\tIn June, Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles following protests over aggressive Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and courthouse arrests.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tTrump suggested Monday that he could send the National Guard to more cities.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n \n\t\u201cWe have other cities also that are bad,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to let it happen. We\u2019re not going to lose our cities over this. And this will go further. We\u2019re starting very strongly with D.C., and we\u2019re going to clean it up real quick, very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThis article was updated with additional Republican governors pledging to send more National Guard troops to support Trump\u2019s D.C. initiative. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" National Guard troops that President Donald Trump has sent to Washington, D.C., \u201cmay be armed\u201d a White House official told CBS News on Saturday, a departure from a previous statement. Officials said earlier this week that the troops would not be armed, and that weapons would not be in their vehicles, either. \u201cWeapons are available<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[1454,8421,2782,120,293,81],"class_list":{"0":"post-16272","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-arm","9":"tag-capitol","10":"tag-guard","11":"tag-national","12":"tag-report","13":"tag-trump"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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