Thousands of National Guard troops and federal officers in riot gear and masks ringed the White House and monuments in the U.S. capital this week, evoking comparisons to an occupying force.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser on Thursday said she wants most of them out of her district of 700,000 residents. But her powers are limited.
“WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT INCREASED MILITARIZATION”
Some 3,300 national guardsmen are in D.C. or en route from Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah, according to the National Guard.
More National Guard units deployed to the US capital WATCH
The prospect of active-duty soldiers on the streets of the capital has alarmed former military officers.
Some of the officers wore uniforms with no discernable insignias, raising questions about their identity and mission.
“We are concerned about the increased militarization and lack of clarity that may increase chaos,” the top Democrat in Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, wrote on Thursday in a letter here to Trump.