Overview

• Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana joined West Virginia, South Carolina and Ohio in sending National Guard contingents to the capital, raising the number of state troops in Washington to more than 1,100.
• The shift follows an executive order declaring a “crime emergency” that put D.C. policing under federal control and brought in agents from the DEA, ICE, FBI and Secret Service.
• The White House said Guard members “may be armed,” reversing initial Army guidance that kept them unarmed and without weapons in vehicles.
• Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said Guard personnel will not perform law-enforcement roles in the city, though they can temporarily detain individuals until police arrive.
• Officials cite nearly 400 arrests and reported declines in violent crime, while D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott criticized the deployment as unnecessary or politicized.