US Capital | Demonstration of Strength

Washington. Three Republican-led US states will send National Guard troops to the capital and support the deployment in Washington ordered by President Donald Trump. After West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey promised the government the deployment of 300 to 400 National Guard troops, similar commitments have been made from South Carolina and Ohio.

South Carolina's Republican Gov. Henry McMaster declared in Platform X that 200 of his National Guard troops would assist President Trump in "restoring law and order in our nation's capital." Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced, according to the Washington Post, that he was deploying 150 of the state's National Guard troops. They should arrive in Washington in the coming days.

US media reported, citing government sources, that the additional troops were intended to augment the 800 National Guard troops announced on Monday. Trump had justified the deployment of the National Guard with allegedly rampant crime in Washington and also cited increasing neglect of public spaces – although official crime statistics do not support his claim. Critics argue that the US government's actions are more likely intended to demonstrate its strength and thus distract from domestic problems.

On Monday, Trump decreed by executive order that the police in the Washington Capital District would temporarily be under the command of Attorney General Pam Bondi. Bondi, in turn, transferred police command to Terry Cole, head of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). As part of his controversial decree, Trump also ordered National Guard troops to Washington. Trump based his decree on the "Home Rule Act," which places the police there under federal command in the event of an emergency. According to the Attorney General of the Federal District, Brian Schwalb, the law only allows the US President to instruct Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser on how law enforcement agencies should be deployed.

Trump's focus—and thus that of law enforcement—is primarily on migrants who may be in the country without a residence permit, as well as homeless people on the city's streets and squares . AFP/nd