Active duty US military troops RETURNING to home bases after being deployed in DC over riots – report

More than 1,000 US Army troops sent to the Washington, DC area to help handle demonstrations over the death of George Floyd are leaving after only a few days, according to a new report.

Senior defense officials told the Associated Press on Wednesday that active duty military deployed to the nation’s capital are heading back to their base after a couple days of more peaceful protests.

According to the report, 200 soldiers with the 82nd Airborne will be leaving first on Wednesday. Other soldiers will be sent home should conditions in DC remain stable. 

Bringing in active duty military had many worried about overreach by the federal government, but the soldiers were never actually deployed into the city. They were instead stationed at bases in Virginia and Maryland and kept on alert. 

Troops actually stationed in DC will remain on a 30-minute alert status in case protests get violent and law enforcement cannot handle the situation.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Wednesday there was no need to use active duty military as law enforcement to quell violence stemming from protests around the country.

“The option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now,” Esper said.

The president said on Monday he was open to deploying the military to cities not using National Guard soldiers to “dominate” their streets and stop looting and violence.

“I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for [governors],” he said.

On Tuesday, Trump used his Twitter account to declare DC the “safest place on Earth.”

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