WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th July, 2020) The US National Guard members was in a "static" role during the time law enforcement dispersed protesters near the White House on June 1 and did not attack the crowd, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said during a congressional testimony on Thursday.
"With regard to the role the National Guard played in the Lafayette Park on June 1, I also want to make clear the following. The Guard didn't advance on the crowd, the Guard didn't shoot rubber bullets, the Guard didn't employ chemical agents of any type. Rather, the Guard remained in a static role as a back-up to law-enforcement - if needed," Esper told the US House Armed Services Committee.
On June 1, law enforcement used physical force to clear a crowd near the White House to enable President Donald Trump to visit a nearby church that was partially set afire by rioters the night before.
Protesters had gathered in Washington and in other cities throughout the United States after the death of African American man George Floyd in police custody in Seattle. However, many of the protests turned into riots complete with violence against police and civilians ass well as acts of arson, vandalism and looting.
Esper said at the height of the civil unrest more than 43,000 Army and Air National Guard personnel in 33 US states and the District of Columbia were called to assist Federal, state, and local law enforcement and more than 5,100 of them were deployed in Washington.
While active-duty units were placed on high alert near Washington, they were never activated, the Defense Secretary noted.
Esper said six National Guard members were injured in Washington during the violent protests and he directed the Secretary of the Army to prepare an after-action review by the end of July.
