“With respect to the National Guard, those numbers, the final numbers - because this has been designated as a national special security event, the final numbers will be provided from the United States Secret Service,” Contee told reporters. “I think you can expect to see somewhere upwards beyond 20,000 members of the National Guard that will be here in the footprint of the District of Columbia.” Contee said.
On Monday, President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for Washington, DC ahead of the 59th presidential inauguration that will remain effective through 24 January and aims to protect "public health and safety in the District of Columbia".
The National Guard deployment to Washington comes amid reports that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is bracing for armed protests being planned in all 50 state capitals across the country in the days ahead of Biden's inauguration.
The threat of violence illustrated by the Capitol takeover, in which some protesters brought weapons inside the halls of Congress and at least five people reportedly died. The assault came after Trump urged followers to keep fighting and not allow the election to be "stolen." Trump's allegations of vote fraud have been refuted by US election security and Justice Department officials.