Trump asked dozens of governors in a conference call Monday to send their National Guard troops to the nation’s capital to handle the protests.
Esper was also on the call and told the governors, “I think the sooner that you mass and dominate the battlespace, the quicker this dissipates and we can get back to the right normal. We need to dominate the battlespace.” Defense officials said that National Guard members from Utah and New Jersey were on the ground Monday and that additional troops from Indiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee were expected to arrive Tuesday. Maryland sent 116 National Guardsmen to the District on Tuesday, according to a spokesman for Gov. Larry Hogan (R). And Ohio — led by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine — sent 100 members of its National Guard to Washington on Tuesday, according to a report on Cleveland.com.
But some states with Democratic governors declined to send National Guard troops. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said he refused for several reasons. “It was not requested by the mayor of Washington, D.C.,” he said. “I am not going to send our National Guard to Washington for a photo op.” Democratic governors in New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware also turned down requests for National Guard troops. Another Pentagon official told the network that support was expected from Delaware as well, but troops were diverted to Wilmington. The U.S. Park Police issued a mutual aid request for other local police agencies. Arlington County [VA] police joined the Park Police on Sunday and Monday but were withdrawn after county officials expressed dismay at the forceful sweep of protesters that led to Trump’s appearance in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church. “We were being used,” Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz said. “We had been asked to do something that turned out to be a political stunt.” [In VA] Alexandria, Fairfax and [in MD] Montgomery County police officials said their departments declined the request from the Park Police. Prince George’s County [MD] police officials said they did not receive a request. The Park Police did not respond to a request for comment.
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