An internal document compiled for the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Thursday and seen by Bloomberg News provides the most detailed breakdown of federal force numbers and locations as the government seeks to contain protests after the killing of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, at the hands of Minneapolis Police. The document, which isn’t classified, shows 2,950 law enforcement personnel from U.S. agencies working alongside 2,935 National Guard troops, bolstered by 1,704 active-duty troops who are currently stationed outside the capital at Andrews Air Force Base, Fort Belvoir and Fort Myer. The total deployments include 500 personnel each from the U.S. Capitol Police, Washington Police Department and U.S. Secret Service; 445 Bureau of Prisons staff, 168 members of the U.S. Marshals Service, 160 Drug Enforcement Agency employees, 80 U.S. Park Police and 32 FBI agents. The numbers come to light as former Defense Secretary James Mattis and others have decried what they see as the militarization of the law enforcement response designed to keep the peace following several nights of demonstrations, some of which turned destructive as protesters broke windows and sprayed graffiti on federal monuments. And it follows the Trump administration’s decision to clear peaceful protesters from a park in front of the White House on Monday so the president could stand before a historic church holding a Bible. The active-duty forces stationed outside Washington would be deployed into the city only as part of a contingency plan if President Donald Trump decided to invoke the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that allows the U.S. military to be put on the streets for law enforcement purposes. Trump signaled several days ago that he might invoke the act. But violence among protesters has declined in recent days, leading Defense Secretary Mark Esper to say Wednesday that he opposed the use of the law, and some active-duty forces are beginning to return to their home bases. <...> The document is titled “Domestic Unrest -- Washington D.C. Overview.” It was prepared Thursday by a division of the Joint Staff that monitors homeland defense issues for General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs. <...> National Guard forces on Thursday included 1,724 troops from nine states, with an additional 1,353 personnel planned, according to the document. The biggest contingent currently comes from South Carolina, with 446 National Guard, but a deployment of 1,055 from Tennessee is planned, the document says. Among the active-duty forces listed as on call from their home base of Fort Myer, abutting Washington, are 432 members of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, or “Old Guard.” It’s the Army’s oldest active unit, whose members escort the president and are best known for 24-hour vigils over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Active-duty troops from the 82nd Airborne and other units are also stationed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-06-05/federal-plan-to-control-d-c-protests-has-7-600-personnel-tapped
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Date: 2020-06-05 11:10 am (UTC)An internal document compiled for the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Thursday and seen by Bloomberg News provides the most detailed breakdown of federal force numbers and locations as the government seeks to contain protests after the killing of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, at the hands of Minneapolis Police.
The document, which isn’t classified, shows 2,950 law enforcement personnel from U.S. agencies working alongside 2,935 National Guard troops, bolstered by 1,704 active-duty troops who are currently stationed outside the capital at Andrews Air Force Base, Fort Belvoir and Fort Myer.
The total deployments include 500 personnel each from the U.S. Capitol Police, Washington Police Department and U.S. Secret Service; 445 Bureau of Prisons staff, 168 members of the U.S. Marshals Service, 160 Drug Enforcement Agency employees, 80 U.S. Park Police and 32 FBI agents.
The numbers come to light as former Defense Secretary James Mattis and others have decried what they see as the militarization of the law enforcement response designed to keep the peace following several nights of demonstrations, some of which turned destructive as protesters broke windows and sprayed graffiti on federal monuments. And it follows the Trump administration’s decision to clear peaceful protesters from a park in front of the White House on Monday so the president could stand before a historic church holding a Bible.
The active-duty forces stationed outside Washington would be deployed into the city only as part of a contingency plan if President Donald Trump decided to invoke the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that allows the U.S. military to be put on the streets for law enforcement purposes. Trump signaled several days ago that he might invoke the act. But violence among protesters has declined in recent days, leading Defense Secretary Mark Esper to say Wednesday that he opposed the use of the law, and some active-duty forces are beginning to return to their home bases. <...>
The document is titled “Domestic Unrest -- Washington D.C. Overview.” It was prepared Thursday by a division of the Joint Staff that monitors homeland defense issues for General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs. <...>
National Guard forces on Thursday included 1,724 troops from nine states, with an additional 1,353 personnel planned, according to the document. The biggest contingent currently comes from South Carolina, with 446 National Guard, but a deployment of 1,055 from Tennessee is planned, the document says.
Among the active-duty forces listed as on call from their home base of Fort Myer, abutting Washington, are 432 members of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, or “Old Guard.” It’s the Army’s oldest active unit, whose members escort the president and are best known for 24-hour vigils over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Active-duty troops from the 82nd Airborne and other units are also stationed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-06-05/federal-plan-to-control-d-c-protests-has-7-600-personnel-tapped