The troops will not be armed, and will “serve as a uniformed deterrence and crowd management capacity to maintain closures and restricted areas,” the spokesperson said.
The news comes after demonstrators on Monday defaced a statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square outside the White House and tried to pull it down. Local media reports said protesters will again try to tear down a statue of Abraham Lincoln this week after they were unsuccessful Tuesday.
The D.C. mayor’s office, which has been at odds with the administration over the deployment of troops, said it learned of the move from media reports.
„The monuments are within the jurisdiction of the federal government — specifically the National Park Service and the United States Park Police — and therefore those agencies need to determine adequate and reasonable protection,“ said Kevin Donahue, deputy mayor for public safety and justice, said in a statement.
Tensions between Mayor Muriel Bowser and President Donald Trump flared this month when the president raised the possibility of deploying military forces to the city.
Early this month, thousands of National Guardsmen left Washington after assisting the 1,200 D.C. National Guardsmen to help deal with protests that broke out after George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minneapolis.
Source: politico.com
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