COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) authorized 1,000 active Ohio National Guard (ONG) members Friday to assist federal authorities in Washington, D.C. Earlier in the week DeWine signed an executive order to activate ONG troops – estimating 200 would go to America’s capital city.
“The activation of additional Guard members follows a request from the U.S. National Guard Bureau Thursday evening for extra support,” read a statement released by the Governor’s communications team.
“Our Ohio National Guard is part of the overall defense forces in our country and has specific skills and equipment to aid the federal government in situations such as this,” said DeWine in his released statement.
The 1,000 troops being deployed to D.C. are doing so “on Federal Title 32 duty to support civil authorities with security-related missions throughout the presidential inauguration.” According to DeWine’s press release, the guard will also provide equipment for communications and food service during the inauguration.
“In addition to the Citizen Soldiers and Citizen Airmen headed to our nation’s capital, we have an ample number of troops who’ve been placed on state active duty to support local and state law enforcement as needed here in Ohio. Violence will not be tolerated,” said DeWine.
Troops placed at the Statehouse and on the ready to travel to where they’re needed around Ohio came at the request of the Director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety and were authorized when the governor signed a Proclamation on Thursday.
The proclamation cites the governor’s authority to call upon the ONG to assists in “seeing that the laws of the state are faithfully executed and to assist state and local authorities with protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of this state.”
The Thursday proclamation provides guard troops to state and local authorities conducting operations but “only pursuant to orders issued” on DeWine’s behalf “by the Adjutant General.”
The provision of guard troops was immediate and will be “in full force and effect until such time as the assistance of State and Local Government authorities is complete, as determined by the Adjutant General, in consultation with the Director of Public Safety, who will coordinate state response efforts and terminate this Proclamation upon the recommendation of appropriate officials of the Ohio National Guard and the supported State and Local Agencies and at my direction as Governor.”
Saturday morning the Statehouse was surrounded by National Guard vehicles but not a single person was seen protesting outside the People’s House.
DeWine’s proclamation is based on, in part, purportedly “planned civil protests” in the wake of what DeWine called “unprecedented riots and assault on the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington.”
On January 6, thousands descended on D.C., while a couple hundred (estimated) stormed the 600-room federal building. A handful of people turned violent and, tragically, five people died – one Capitol Police officer, one woman who infiltrated the building, and three others who died of medical emergencies related to the siege.
While appalling, the events of January 6 are not unprecedented. The Capitol has been a site of violence numerous times over the past 200 years:
- During the War of 1812 British soldiers not only breached the Capitol but set it ablaze.
- In 1890 a newspaper reporter fatally shot Congressman William Taulbee on the steps of the Capitol.
- A man suffering from mental illness stormed the Capitol in 1998, fatally shooting two police officers.
- In 1856 a pro-slave Congressman caned a pro-emancipation Congressman to near unconsciousness (one of 70 estimated violent altercations between Congressmen during that era).
- A Harvard professor planted dynamite in 1915 that detonated.
- Four Americans shot Congressional Representatives, injuring five, in 1954.
- A planted bomb exploded inside the Capitol Building in 1971, causing $300,000 of damage ($1,560,960 in 2021).
Joe Biden’s (D) inauguration is scheduled for Wednesday, January 20. The Democratic Party is working to make the swearing-in a virtual event – concocting and promoting a Watch Party Kit, complete with the Presidential Inauguration Toolkit.
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Jack Windsor is Managing Editor at The Ohio Star. Windsor is also an independent investigative reporter. Follow Jack on Twitter. Email tips or book Jack to speak at your event at [email protected].
Photo “National Guard” by Elvert Barnes. CC BY-SA 2.0.
