There are currently around 25,000 National Guard troops in the Washington DC area to help provide security for the Biden inauguration. Those troops were moved in following the rioting that took place at the Capitol on the 6th.
Some Congressional types, all with the “D” after their names, speculated that there were potential security threats posed by the massive influx of Guard troopers. They were concerned there might be white supremacists and, gasp, militia members among the troops, so a massive vetting operation was launched. The effort involved the Army, FBI, National Guard Bureau and the Secret Service.
Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller said Monday that there is no evidence of an insider plot to disrupt the inauguration or attack Biden or members of Congress. “While we have no intelligence indicating an insider threat, we are leaving no stone unturned in securing the capital,” he said.
So far, they’ve announced that 12 troopers have been removed from the detail for unspecified links to “extremist groups” and social media posts that were considered “unacceptable”.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is one of those that questions the need for this vetting, saying it’s disrespectful towards the troops.
I see two key takeaways here. One is an observation, the other a question.
First the observation:
Twelve. Six times two. Two more than the number of fingers most folks are born with. Out of ~25,000. That’s .04%. And I’d bet my paycheck that at least three of them simply posted something on social media about the election being illegitimate.
And that leads to the question:
Who’s deciding what’s fringe or extremist? Citing NG and DoD policy, nothing has been released regarding who was removed or any detail on what was found out.
Given the leftward drift of the DoD in recent years, I have to question the decision making process here. And citing policy as a reason not to release any of that info doesn’t fly with me. You know for damned sure if there were actual, concrete connections to white supremacists and fringe militia movements they’d have been leaked already.