National Guard to Assist With Security During Pro-Trump Rally in US Capital - Police Chief

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th January, 2021) The District of Columbia National Guard will assist police in Washington, DC in providing security this week during the demonstrations called by President Donald Trump, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee III said during a virtual press conference on Monday.

"We have received confirmation that the DC National Guard will be assisting the Metropolitan Police Department beginning tomorrow through the life cycle of this event," the police chief said. "They will be deployed to assist us with crowd management as well as traffic control in our nation's capital. That will allow for the police officers to focus on anyone who's intent on instigating, agitating or participating in violence in our city."

Contee said firearms will not be permitted in the demonstration area while noting that the police department has received information some individuals were intent on bringing firearms in the city.

Mayor Muriel Bowser urged residents to avoid the downtown area during the demonstrations scheduled to take place Tuesday and Wednesday.

Trump's supporters are expected to gather in large numbers in front of the Capitol, where the two chambers of Congress will meet in a joint session on Wednesday to certify the results of the presidential election. At least 140 members of the House of Representatives and 12 members of the Senate said they will object to the result and are demanding an independent commission conduct forensic audit of the results in battleground US states.

Trump attributes his Democratic rival Joe Biden's victory to a massive fraud and said will not concede until only legal votes are counted and the illegal ones are discounted. More than 60 legal cases that Trump and the Republican party filed in challenging the election results and acts of impropriety have been rejected by state and Federal courts.