Buzz Feed’s Paul McLeod reports, “about 3,000 total national guard troops sheltering in the Capitol right now.”
McLeod said guardsmen had to stay in the Capitol building “overnight because there was nowhere to put all 15,000 troops being brought into DC for inauguration from various state national guards (eg New York sent 1,000)”
This is nothing less than a logistical nightmare as thousands of guardsmen had no folding cots to sleep on.
Acting Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee said the National Guard is boosting the numbers of guardsmen around the Capitol complex to more than 20,000.
This is a substantial increase from over the weekend when 6,000 were deployed. The number was increased to a total of 15,000 on Monday.
Now, more than 20,000 guardsmen are expected to be armed and patrolling the Capitol grounds. It makes us wonder how large is the threat ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan 20.
Last week, the Associated Press, citing the Secretary of the Army, said National Guard troops in the Washington Metropolitan Area, especially around the Capitol complex, could carry assault rifles and pistols though the decision was under review.
Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told The AP Friday that the military could let guardsmen carry M-4 rifles or 9 mm Berettas in a few days.
As we come to find out, on Wednesday morning, CNN’s Josh Replogle reports that “racks upon racks of rifles and pistols” were unloaded from military vehicles and distributed to troops.
Dozens of pictures of guardsmen sleeping inside the Capitol were armed with what appears to be M-4 rifles by their sides. This comes after days of unarmed guardsmen seen around the Capitol earlier this week.
This means that the military has given the orders to arm guardsmen ahead of what could be chaos during President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan 20.We noted this morning that the FBI is racing to track down hardcore insurrectionists that could be preparing for a fight next week.
