The two members of the West Virginia National Guard who were shot in Washington on Wednesday were among more than 2,000 troops deployed to the nation’s capital as part of President Donald Trump’s crime-fighting mission that involved taking over the local police department. The president quickly ordered 500 more National Guard members to the city after the shooting.
The members were shot about two blocks from the White House. Officials said they were hospitalized in critical condition. Washington’s mayor said they were victims of a ”targeted shooting.”
Trump declared a public safety emergency but officials say crime was already falling
He said he aimed to reduce crime. But the city’s attorney general said violent crime in the district reached 30-year lows last year and was down an additional 26% this year.
West Virginia among several states with guardsmen in the district
There were 2,188 troops assigned to the joint task force that took over the city’s policing, according to the government’s latest update.
As of early November, the D.C. National Guard had the largest number on the ground with 949. West Virginia was next with 416 guardsmen.
Last week, at least 160 West Virginia troops volunteered to extend their deployment to Dec. 31. The others returned to West Virginia on Nov. 17.
Other states with forces in Washington early this month were Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.
Officials with several of the states told The Associated Press they planned to end their deployments by Nov. 30 but indicated that also depended on whether they received orders to extend their stay.
Military presence and landscaping
In early October, the joint task force said troops cleared 1,150 bags of trash, spread 1,045 cubic yards (0.8 cubic meters) of mulch, removed 50 truckloads of plant waste, cleared 7.9 miles (12.7 kilometers) of roadway, painted 270 feet (82 meters) of fencing and pruned 400 trees.
Since then, most task force daily updates offered only new troop figures and no summaries of beautification efforts.
Their presence has unnerved some residents, who see it as presidential overreach on law enforcement. Others say they approve, particularly of a contingent of National Guard troops focused on community improvement efforts.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat whose city budget and laws are determined by Congress, has walked a fine line between appeasing Trump and pushing back on the deployment. She has acknowledged that the campaign has helped push down crime, while arguing that the out-of-state National Guard deployment has not been “an efficient use of those resources.”
Carrying handguns and rifles
The military said some units on certain missions would have handguns and others would have rifles. These missions would include units on patrol throughout the capital.
All units with firearms were trained and operating under strict rules for use of force, the military said.
The joint task force said the military’s rules allowed force to be used “only as a last resort and solely in response to an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm.” It said troops were committed to protecting “the safety and wellbeing” of Washington’s residents.
On Nov. 20, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to end the deployment, saying it illegally intruded on local officials’ authority to direct law enforcement in the district. U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb put her order on hold for 21 days to allow for an appeal.
Cobb found that while the president does have authority to protect federal functions and property, he can’t unilaterally deploy the D.C. National Guard to help with crime control as he sees fit or call in troops from other states.
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