West Virginia National Guard being sent to DC
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The shift comes after defense officials said the soldiers deployed to the capital wouldn’t be armed.
The deployment of the troops follows an order by US President Donald Trump for a crackdown on crime in the US capital, a similar action he took during protests in Los Angeles in June, prompting widespread backlash.
The influx came the morning after the Republican president announced he would be activating the guard members and taking over the District’s police department, something the law allows him to do temporarily.
Dressed in camouflage fatigues, National Guard troops patrolled areas of Washington Thursday, dispatched by President Donald Trump to police what he has called "out of control crime" in the city.
A significantly larger National Guard presence is expected across Washington, D.C. starting Wednesday, as operations shift from evening patrols to around-the-clock deployment, according to a White House official.