The Pentagon announced Tuesday, March 9, extending by two months the mission of protecting the Capitol entrusted to thousands of soldiers of the United States National Guard after the attack on January 6 by supporters of Donald Trump.
Nearly 2,300 soldiers will be mobilized until May 23, a reduction by half of the current strength.
Read also: How Donald Trump witnessed the assault on Capitol Hill unmoved
The Capitol has been under tight security since January 6, when thousands of Donald Trump supporters gathered at the foot of the US Congressional headquarters after a speech by Donald Trump.
Several hundred of them had violently attacked the building, causing chaos.
Five people, including a Capitol policeman, died.
Since then, barriers have been erected to protect the area surrounding the Capitol and the soldiers of the National Guard remain mobilized in support of the police, but their mission was to end on March 12.
"During this additional period, the Department of Defense will work jointly with the Capitol Police to gradually reduce the presence of the National Guard
,
"
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.
Read also: Capture of the Capitol: the day the American democracy fractured
The Ministry of Defense announced last week that it had received a formal request from the police in charge of the security of the Capitol for a continuation of the assistance of the National Guard, without specifying if this request corresponded to specific risks.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/6SWR7PPG4CB3IQIWCNKSJ6XR4U.jpg)
