More than 20,000 National Guard members are expected to arrive in Washington, D.C. next week for US President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, DC Police Chief Robert Contee said Wednesday.
The number of troops could be the largest ever on for any inauguration as the newly-installed chief of police said the amount of law enforcement coming to the District was not seen at this level.
Biden is going to have more soldiers at his inauguration than Trump had spectators.
— Schooley (@Rschooley) January 13, 2021
"I've been concerned before today and will be through this weekend, and beyond," Contee told reporters, and said he is worried about "a major security threat" as he reiterated Mayor Muriel Bowser’s call for people not to come to the capital for the Jan. 20 inauguration.
There is no concern about a shortage of National Guard forces that will come from the 50 US states and the District of Columbia to support US Capitol Police, Park Police and Washington Metropolitan Police Department, according to officials.
Around 20,000 National Guard soldiers have been deployed around the Capitol Building for Joe Biden’s inauguration, more than the amount of US troops currently in Afghanistan and Iraq combined pic.twitter.com/75dwqlovb5
— TRT World (@trtworld) January 14, 2021
The massive number comes after a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol building last week in an attempt to stop the process of certifying Electoral College votes for Joe Biden.
The riots caused the deaths of five people.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
