Three hundred Georgia National Guard soldiers are on their way to Washington, D.C. Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) says they will join more than 2,200 Guard members from eight states deployed under President Donald Trump’s public safety takeover of the nation’s capital.
Kemp called it a mission of security and beauty, but it means military boots on city streets. This is not the first Georgia wave — 16 Guard members are already in D.C., working out of Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling as medical and police support staff, and 300 more will rotate in mid-September to relieve them.
Meanwhile, nearly 1,000 D.C. Guard troops just had their federal orders extended through December, keeping the military presence in place for months.
Trump claims the surge has brought crime down. Mayor Muriel Bowser has echoed that in part, but critics and data note crime was already trending down before the Guard arrived. D.C. has filed a lawsuit calling the deployment an unlawful occupation.
Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.
