by Brian Cates
Washington D.C. is being locked down as a staggering number of military troops and law enforcement personnel are stationed throughout the city in the week leading up to the next Presidential Inauguration on Wednesday, January 20th. At last count, the number of military troops had ballooned up to 26,000, which is quite an impressive show of force. And the number of troops in the city might climb even higher by the time the next President takes the oath of office.
The media seems to believe the Mayor of D.C. or Democrats in the government are the ones flooding the streets of Washington with what amounts to well over 2 brigades of troops, many of whom are armed and able to use lethal force. They’re wrong. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser publicly released a letter on January 5 when the number of troops and federal units deployed to the nation’s capital was much smaller than it is now.
In that letter, Bowser insisted she and the city’s Metropolitan Police Department [MPD] be consulted before any further deployments were made. Since Bowser wrote that letter, the number of troops on her city's streets has gone from 6,000 to 26,000. Did they consult her as requested? I can’t seem to find any documentation of that.
Note that in her January 5 letter, Bowser loudly complained about the federal tactical units President Trump deployed to D.C. over the summer to help contain the out-of-control rioting in the city, saying:
“We are mindful that in 2020, MPD was expected to perform the demanding tasks of policing large crowds while working around unidentifiable personnel deployed in the District of Columbia without proper coordination. Unidentifiable personnel – in many cases armed – caused confusion among residents and visitors and could become a national security threat with no way for MPD and federal law enforcement to decipher armed groups.”
Ah well, it appears Mayor Bowser needn’t have worried. Instead of dozens of federal tactical units without insignia, somebody’s gone ahead and put 26,000 troops in clearly marked military uniforms complete with unit patches all over her city.
One Reuters report incoherently said that the National Guard was sending 15,000 additional National Guard troops to D.C. as if the National Guard deploys itself. It does not.
The FBI has warned of armed protests being planned for Washington ahead of the event, a federal law enforcement source said. The National Guard prepared to send up to 15,000 troops to Washington and the Secret Service said it would begin its special security arrangements almost a week earlier than originally planned.
Is this good to remind everybody who is still the U.S. Commander-in-Chief? It’s not Mayor Bowser or the National Guard deploying these armed troops to Washington. It’s this guy.
Although many early reports seem to imply only troops deployed to the Capitol grounds would be armed, that may not really be the case, as it was clarified on January 12 that the troops can be armed and use lethal force “in and around the Capitol grounds”. How far that perimeter “around the Capitol grounds” extends from the Capitol Building itself hasn’t really been clarified.
Who Is This Massive Show of Force Supposed To Stop?
Once the true number of deployed forces in the city is revealed, the question that naturally arises is why is such an overwhelming show of force being made? The surface-skating answer is “The Biden administration, because there was a violent attack on the Capitol Building and our U.S. Congress earlier this month, duh!” Well, that’s a good take…until you consider the fact not a single person in the incoming Biden administration has any actual power yet to deploy anybody anywhere.
The leaders of a historic church near the White House say they are praying for the nation to heal after the building was damaged when violence erupted following anti-racism and anti-police brutality ...
Logic would tell you to look at what groups have been actively rioting for much of the past year in the nation’s capital, looting, and burning businesses, even setting fire to historic churches. Trump supporters were allegedly involved in a single incident at the Capitol Building on January 6, and the narrative that Trump incited his followers into a violent attack on Congress is already quickly falling apart.
By now, Trump and Pence both know the attack on the Capitol wasn’t the work of their own supporters. As I pointed out in a recent Epoch column, the President hadn’t even finished his speech at the Ellipse when the attack was already underway.
So no, President Trump doesn’t intend this massive show of force to deter his own supporters from rioting in D.C.
The facts and logic lead to the conclusion that this massive show of military force on the streets of DC is intended to deter the very same people who’ve been busy rioting and looting and assaulting people in that city since the Spring.
Antifa and BLM.
What exactly could be about to happen that would lead to a huge new cycle of Antifa and BLM riots in the streets of Washington if this massive number of troops weren’t already in position and waiting to stop them?
I think we could find out very soon.
Brian Cates entered the political arena in March 2012, following the death of Andrew Breitbart. He is currently a political columnist for The Epoch Times and UncoverDC. Brian is based in South Texas and is the author of: “Nobody Asked For My Opinion … But Here It Is Anyway!” SubscribeStar: Brian Cates Epoch Times: Brian Cates
