President Trump ordered an additional 500 National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday after two West Virginia National Guard members were shot a few blocks from the White House, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.
“This happened just steps away from the White House,” Mr. Hegseth said. “It will not stand. And that’s why President Trump has asked me, and I will ask the secretary of the army, to the National Guard, to add 500 additional troops, national guardsmen, to Washington, D.C.”
Law enforcement officials including the F.B.I. director Kash Patel held a news conference with Washington’s mayor, Muriel E. Bowser, in which the shooting was described as “targeted.” The only suspect was in custody, the officials said.
There were still many details about the shooting that were unknown by nightfall on Wednesday. Mr. Trump, who was in Palm Beach, Fla., for the Thanksgiving holiday, wrote on social media that “the animal” who shot the National Guard members would “pay a very steep price.”
The request for hundreds more troops on the streets of the capital, in addition to the about 2,000 already there, is the latest development in a monthslong debate about the role of the National Guard in American cities to patrol crime. The Guard traditionally been asked to provide humanitarian assistance when deployed domestically.
There is only one other city, Memphis, where troops are currently deployed; other cities are embroiled in court fights over whether troops can be deployed there. The Supreme Court is considering whether the president can deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to the Chicago area over the objections of state and local leaders.
Last week, a federal judge in Washington ruled that the president’s National Guard deployment appeared to violate the law. In particular, the decision found the combination of troops from a number of Republican states, assembled in Washington under central command, to be an unlawful use of the National Guard.
In her decision, Judge Jia M. Cobb blocked the deployment of the troops, who were scheduled to remain in the city until at least the end of February. But she stayed her own order, pausing it from taking effect until Dec. 11 in the interest of “orderly proceedings.” The Justice Department has appealed the ruling and sought emergency relief on Wednesday.
The shooting on Wednesday was sure to inflame the debate about how Mr. Trump has used the National Guard as part of his crackdown on crime.
Maj. Gen. William Enyart, a former adjutant general of Illinois — which is the Guard’s top officer in the state — said he was shocked that two Guard members were shot near the White House.
“It is probably one of the safest places on this planet to be, so for two guardsmen to be murdered there — or shot and desperately wounded — in that location is really astounding,” said Mr. Enyart, who is a former Democratic congressman.
“I don’t want to see this turned into a political football,” he added, “which I’m afraid will happen.”
Brig. Gen. David L. McGinnis, a former chief of staff for the National Guard Association of the United States, an advocacy group, said that the decision to place Guard troops on foot patrol made this outcome more likely.
“I would expect the White House to spin it,” he said, in this way: “Here’s another case why we need to put the Guard on every street in every blue city in the country.”
Zach Montague and Chris Hippensteel contributed reporting.
Shawn McCreesh is a White House reporter for The Times covering the Trump administration.
The post Trump Orders 500 More National Guard Members to D.C. After Shooting appeared first on New York Times.
