Thousands of National Guard troops will continue to bolster Washington's security until mid-March, 5,000 of whom will be tasked with protecting the Capitol, as Donald Trump's impeachment trial is due to start on February 9, announced Monday. the Pentagon.
Some 13,000 National Guard reservists were still in the federal capital on Monday, nearly three weeks after the assault on Capitol Hill by pro-Trump protesters that left 5 dead, the Secretary of the Army said by acting, John Whitley.
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About 7,000 of them will remain in Washington until the end of the month, and their numbers will gradually decline to 5,000 by mid-March.
Several hundred more will continue to strengthen the workforce of the Washington Municipal Police, the Executive Protection Service, the Secret Service, and the National Parks Police, which have jurisdiction over central Washington, t he added during a press conference.
The Pentagon official indicated that the National Guard was responding to requests from local and federal authorities on the basis of information from the FBI indicating "
several
" possible demonstrations in the coming weeks.
"
They are concerned that there are situations where legal protests can be used by malicious actors or that other problems emerge,
" Whitley said simply.
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More than 25,000 National Guard reservists were deployed to Washington last week to provide security for Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony as President of the United States, in a city turned into an entrenched camp.