OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
1:00 PM – Monday, August 25, 2025
Some National Guardsmen deployed in Washington, D.C., have been spotted carrying holstered firearms while on patrol.
According to a spokesperson for the National Guard Joint Task Force, the Guard, who were sent to the Capitol by President Donald Trump earlier this month to clean up the rampant crime in D.C., began carrying weapons on Sunday evening. This comes shortly after the National Guard was authorized to do so by United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who signed the order on Friday.
As part of Trump’s crime crackdown initiative, more than 1,900 troops from the National Guard in Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia joined the D.C. personnel last week, totaling over 2,200 troops, according to Major Michael A. Maxwell.
Maxwell emphasized in a statement that service members would operate under established rules for the use of force, employing it “only as a last resort and solely in response to an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm.”
Brigadier General Leland D. Blanchard II, Interim Commanding General of the District of Columbia National Guard, said the decision came at the direction of the defense secretary and in coordination with local and federal law enforcement, stressing that the weapons are meant for personal protection.
“This decision is not something taken lightly,” Blanchard stated. “We are in coordination with our law enforcement partners and all appropriate review processes are in place.”
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