Twelve Army National Guard members have been removed from inauguration duty in Washington, DC, as part of the security vetting process initiated, in part, to ensure troops tasked with securing Wednesday's ceremony in the nation's capital do not have ties to extremist groups, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau said Tuesday.
January 19, 2021
Twelve Army National Guard members have been removed from inauguration duty in Washington, DC, as part of the security vetting process initiated, in part, to ensure troops tasked with securing Wednesday's ceremony in the nation's capital do not have ties to extremist groups, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau said Tuesday.
Two of the individuals were flagged due to "inappropriate" comments and texts, Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson told reporters after a defense official told CNN earlier Tuesday that they were removed over possible links to extremists.The other 10 Guard members were removed for questionable behavior found in the vetting process, Hokanson said, emphasizing that this does not necessarily mean they have ties to extremists, but simply that they were "identified" and removed from service "out of an abundance of caution." "I'm not concerned as a large part of our organization, if you look at 25,000, we've had 12 identified and some of those they are just looking into, it may be unrelated to this, but we want to make sure out of an abundance of caution as I stated earlier that we do the right thing until that gets cleared up," he told reporters.The news comes as there are now approximately 25,000 National Guard troops on the ground in Washington, DC, according to spokesman Major Aaron Thacker.+
Pentagon chief says 'no intelligence indicating an insider threat' to inauguration as FBI vets National Guard
The nation's capital is on edge ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. While much of Washington has been shut down following the deadly riot at the US Capitol on January 6, defense officials have sought to reassure the public that the troops sent to protect the inauguration are being fully vetted.
Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller said Monday that there is "no intelligence indicating an insider threat" to the inauguration. Miller's statement came hours after the head of the DC National Guard said that the FBI is vetting troops involved in to prevent any insider threats."
"What happens is they're screened before they leave their state and what it is is a credentialing process so they're screened and they're repeatedly screened until they are actually put on the street," Major Gen. William Walker told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday. Walker did not say that the screening included specific questions about the members' beliefs surrounding the legitimacy of the election, but they are carrying out enhanced background screening. "No, it's all about the background. So, a regular background check is enhanced with more screening..." he said.
