According to a January 19 report, two members of the U.S. National Guard have been removed from their inauguration security duties after background checks showed ties to right-wing militia groups. The report also added that no organized plot has been discovered against Joe Biden, and no threats have been detected.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, officials within the Army and the intelligence community confirmed removing these two Guard members was done as a precaution.
The report did not provide the names of the two troopers, or reveal the names of the groups they were allegedly tied to.
On January 17, the FBI revealed that it was conducting extra background checks on the 25,000 National Guard troops sent to Washington, D.C. to provide security for the inauguration.
”We’re continually going through the process, and taking second, third looks at every one of the individuals assigned to this operation,” Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said.
Due to the chaos of the January 6 storming of the Capitol building, the National Guard has been called in to the nation’s capital to ensure order during the inauguration of Joe Biden.
Other security measures being taken include a seven-foot non-scalable fence erected around the Capitol, and the scaling-down of the crowd size for the event.
According to the New York Post, “At least three people have been busted in recent days for entering or attempting to enter frozen zones around the Capitol, among them two Virginia men carrying firearms.”
President Trump has already declared a state of emergency for the days leading up to Inauguration Day, allowing for the National Guard presence and other disaster preparedness measures.
The emergency declaration authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to “coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the District of Columbia.”
NEW: President Trump approves state of emergency declaration in Washington D.C. for Joe Biden’s inauguration. pic.twitter.com/Nr9a2lY4Pr
— Jennifer Franco (@jennfranconews) January 12, 2021
