National Guard Members in DC Pre-Screened for Possible ‘Extremism’

These are extraordinary times, and they call for extraordinary measures.

The siege of the US Capitol on January 6th was not only a major political statement, but also drew us into some intrigue – particularly in the case of Capitol Police.  During the storming fo the Capitol, we saw a number of instances in which members of the force were cajoling with the trespassers, taking selfies, and generally operating under a pretty relaxed posture.  The actions of several officers were offensive enough to warrant suspension and investigation, which has many wondering if the insurrection had help on the inside.

The National Guard who is now protecting our nation’s capital, (and Capitol), are actively working to make sure that they aren’t harboring any double agents themselves.

The roughly 25,000 National Guardsmen deployed to the U.S. capital to ensure President-elect Joe Biden is able to be sworn in peacefully went through an additional background check to weed out any whiff of domestic extremism.

Added for one of the most fraught deployments in the history of the Guard, the screening is “about the same” as the standard background check that Guardsmen go through when they initially enlist, the commanding general of the D.C. National Guard said in an interview on Saturday. It is intended as “another layer” of security on top of continuous monitoring of the force, he said.

“For this deployment everybody is screened additionally, but it’s more of a reassurance, because we do everything we can do know our Guardsmen, our soldiers and airmen,” Major General William Walker said.

The guard did not openly indicate how many of their soldiers may have been rejected for duty on account of this specific screening, however.