Nearly 5,000 National Guards will remain in the US capital Washington due, in part, to concerns about potential violence stemming from online chatter among QAnon supporters who suggest former President Donald Trump could still be inaugurated on March 4, a CNN report has cited the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee as saying.
The CNN said that the request for 4,900 National Guard troops to stay in Washington through March 12 was made by US Capitol Police, defense officials said Wednesday, adding that the Pentagon is working with relevant law enforcement agencies to determine what an appropriate force presence looks like now that the threat landscape has changed in the weeks since Biden's inauguration.
"Some of these people have figured out that apparently 75 years ago, the President used to be inaugurated on March 4. Okay, now why that's relevant, God knows, at any rate, now they are thinking maybe we should gather again and storm the Capitol on March 4 ... that is circulating online," Rep. Adam Smith, the panel's chairman, said Wednesday during a hearing with defense officials.
"Stuff like that circulates all the time, does it mean it's going to happen, probably not, but if you want to help, tell them not to do that, tell them that the election is over. Joe Biden won. It was a free and fair election, and let's get to work, that too would help reduce the well I don't know fear/paranoia that people feel that requires everything that we're seeing around here," he added.
Concerns about March 4 are only one reason some lawmakers argue the National Guard deployment should be extended. CNN has previously reported that law enforcement officials are also worried about security around Biden's upcoming joint address to Congress.
KI/PR
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