D.C. National Guard To Activate Hundreds Of Troops For Pro-Trump Demonstration

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Members of the D.C. National Guard will respond when supporters of President Donald Trump protest the 2020 election results in downtown D.C. this week.

The D.C. National Guard will assist the Metropolitan Police Department with crowd management and traffic control, MPD’s acting chief, Robert Contee, said at a news conference Monday morning. The department is expecting a crowd larger than at two pro-Trump events in D.C. last year.

Anyone who carries a gun at a protest or within 1,000 feet of a protest will be arrested, in line with D.C. law, the acting police chief said. Police posted signs this weekend in Freedom Plaza, where protests are expected, warning about the law.

Law enforcement will work to maintain order at the demonstrations, Mayor Muriel Bowser said.

“We will not allow people to incite violence, intimidate our residents or cause destruction in our city,” she said.

Officials will evaluate whether a curfew will be needed, Bowser said.

Police will increase their presence around churches after demonstrators previously destroyed Black Lives Matter signs outside.

In a message Sunday, the mayor asked people to stay away from the demonstrations and downtown area.

“I am asking Washingtonians and those who live in the region to stay out of the downtown area on Tuesday and Wednesday and not to engage with demonstrators who come to our city seeking confrontation, and we will do what we must to ensure all who attend remain peaceful,” Bowser said in a statement.

Federal law bars guns from being carried on U.S. Capitol grounds and in National Park Service areas such as Freedom Plaza, the Ellipse, and the National Mall, Bowser’s office said Sunday. It’s illegal to open carry firearms in D.C., and D.C. does not have reciprocity with other states’ concealed pistol licenses.

“Unless a person has been issued a concealed pistol license by the District of Columbia, they cannot conceal carry a firearm in the city,” the mayor’s office said.