A January 19 report shows that two members of the U.S. National Guard were removed from their positions in securing Washington, D.C. for Inauguration Day after background checks showed their ties to right-wing militia groups.
The report also noted that no organized plot or threats have been detected against Joe Biden.
This information was revealed by officials within the Army and intelligence community who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The names of the troopers and the groups they were tied to are not included in the report.
The FBI revealed on January 17 that it was conducting extra background checks on the 25,000 National Guard troops who are present in Washington, D.C. providing security for the inauguration.
”We’re continually going through the process, and taking second, third looks at every one of the individuals assigned to this operation,” Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said.
The National Guard was deployed to the nation’s capital to ensure order after the storming of the Capitol building on January 6 led to fears of a repeat incident during Joe Biden’s inauguration.
President Trump has already declared a state of emergency for the days leading up to Inauguration Day, allowing for the National Guard presence and other disaster preparedness measures.
The emergency declaration authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to “coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the District of Columbia.”
NEW: President Trump approves state of emergency declaration in Washington D.C. for Joe Biden’s inauguration. pic.twitter.com/Nr9a2lY4Pr
— Jennifer Franco (@jennfranconews) January 12, 2021
Other security measures are being taken out of fear and concern, including a seven-foot non-scalable fence that was put up around the Capitol, and the reduction of the size of the crowd for the event.
The New York Post reported that “at least three people have been busted in recent days for entering or attempting to enter frozen zones around the Capitol, among them two Virginia men carrying firearms.”