Report: Pentagon plans to mobilize Washington DC National Guard Jan 6, critique of protest response

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Pentagon is developing plans to reorganize the National Guard in Washington, DC to address the issues it has highlighted chaotic response to the January 6 uprising and security breaches during the 2020 protests over the killing of George Floyd, The Associated Press has learned.

The changes being discussed would transfer the District of Columbia’s aviation units, which were harshly criticized during the protests when a The helicopter flew dangerously low over a crowd. In return, the district would get more military police, which is often the city’s greatest need as it struggles with crowd control and large public events.

Several current and former officials familiar with the talks spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. They said no final decisions had been made yet.

A key sticking point is who would have control of the DC Guard – a politically contentious issue that gets to the heart of an ongoing, tumultuous affair. Governors across the country control their National Guard units and can make decisions about their deployment to local disasters and other needs. But DC isn’t a state, so the President is in charge, but delegates that authority to the Secretary of Defense, who generally delegates it to the Secretary of the Army.

According to officials, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is considering two options: keeping the current system or handing control over to the US Northern Command, which is responsible for home defense.

Senior officials have advocated for Northern Command, which would take control out of the hands of Washington political appointees who may be at odds with the DC government, and give it to bipartisan military commanders who already oversee homeland defense. However, others believe that decision-making should remain with the Pentagon, reflecting the civilian control that governors have over their troops.

The overall goal is not to reduce the size of the district watch, but to reform it and ensure it has the units, equipment and training to do the jobs it routinely faces. The proposal to relocate the air force is largely an Army decision. It would transfer the DC Air Guard wing and its aircraft to the Maryland Guard and the Army Aviation Unit to the Virginia Guard with its helicopters.

An army official added that a review of the DC Guard over the past four years examined its ability to respond quickly when needed, lead the mission and coordinate with other forces. The District Guard and Army leaders were involved in the review that led to the recommendations.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office on Friday did not respond to a request for comment on the proposed changes.

But Bowser and other local officials have long maintained that the mayor’s office should have sole authority to deploy the local watch, arguing that DC’s mayor has a governor’s responsibilities without additional powers or tools.

In the event of a potential security incident, DC’s mayor must contact the Pentagon — usually the Secretary of the Army — to request National Guard assistance. That was true during the violent protests in the city over the killing by George Floyd by a police officer in 2020 and later when an angry mob stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 to overthrow Joe Biden’s election to the presidency.

As the riots unfolded on January 6, city leaders frantically called army leaders, urging them to send guard troops to the Capitol, where police and security forces were overrun. City leaders heavily complained about delays in response as the Pentagon reviewed Bowser’s request for the National Guard. The city police eventually reinforced the Capitol Police.

Army leaders responded that the district was asking for help but was not providing the necessary details and information to determine what forces were needed and how they would be deployed.

Army officials were concerned about involving the Guards troops, who were stationed in the city on traffic duty, in a riot because they were unprepared and lacked the appropriate equipment. And they criticized the city for it repeatedly insisted that no security assistance was needed at the request of federal authorities in the days leading up to January 6.

The seething confusion led to congressional hearings and allegations that political considerations influenced the Trump administration’s response to the unrest in the Democratic-majority city. Defense officials denied these allegations, blaming the city.

But there are broader concerns at the Pentagon that DC is too quickly seeking National Guard troops to fill the city’s law enforcement gaps that police should be filling. In recent days, a City Council member suggested that the DC Guard may be needed to help combat rising local crime.

The purpose of the reorganization is to make the process smoother and avoid communication problems should another crisis erupt.

An April 2021 Army inquiry slammed the DC Guard, saying troops lacked clear instructions and did not fully understand how to appropriately use helicopters during the June 2020 riots.

The investigation was sparked by widespread objections, including from Congress, after one of the DC Guard helicopters hovered low enough over protesters near Capitol One Arena to create a deafening noise and spray the protesters with rotor water. There were also concerns that the guard used a medivac helicopter – with medical markings on it – to make such a “show of force” against the crowds who had gathered to protest Floyd’s death.

The report noted that the use of medical helicopters was appropriate given the nature of the emergency. However, the incident sparked concerns among defense leaders about the need for improved planning, training and oversight of the DC Guard’s deployment of aircraft, and called for a more rigorous permitting process.

Associated Press writer Ashraf Khalil contributed to this report.