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Washington extends public emergency until after inauguration as New York sends in 1,000 National Guard members

The public emergency order would be effective till a day after Mr Biden’s inauguration

Namita Singh
Thursday 07 January 2021 12:15 GMT
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The mayor of Washington DC, Muriel Bowser, has extended public emergency for the next 15 days with support from the members of New York National Guard who would be deployed to Washington on Wednesday night following riots in the US Capitol.

The order from Mayor Bowser would be effective till a day after president-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. 

"Today, First Amendment protests turned violent. Many persons came to the District armed and for the purpose of engaging in violence and destruction and have engaged in violence and destruction. They have fired chemical irritants, bricks, bottles, and guns," Mayor Bowser said in her order.

"They have breached the security of the Capitol and their destructive and riotous behaviour has the potential to spread beyond the Capitol,” it continued. "Their motivation is ongoing. Today, they sought to disrupt the Congressional proceedings relating to the acceptance of electoral college votes." 

The order under emergency measures gives the city administrator, Kevin Donahue, the authority to implement actions that are “necessary or appropriate to protect persons and property in the District of Columbia.” 

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said that he was sending troops for two weeks to help a peaceful transition of presidential power. 

“At the request of United States National Guard officials, I am deploying 1,000 members of the New York National Guard to Washington, DC, for up to two weeks to aid and facilitate the peaceful transition of presidential power,” Governor Cuomo said in a statement.

He, however, reassured residents that it would not upset the state administration’s effort to contain the coronavirus. 

“This deployment will not impact our state’s ongoing efforts to contain and combat the Covid virus. For 244 years, the cornerstone of our democracy has been the peaceful transfer of power, and New York stands ready to help ensure the will of the American people is carried out, safely and decisively. God bless our brave men and women in uniform, and God bless the United States of America.”

Earlier, about 1,100 members of the District of Columbia National Guard were mobilised to support the law enforcement officials in the city to protect property, announced Captain Tinashe T Machona, a spokesperson for the DC Guard.  

The troop would join the enforcement that were sent from Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey, to aid the US Capitol after a violent mob of President Trump’s supporters breached the security perimeter of the building. 

According to the New York Times report, it was vice president Mike Pence and not the commander in chief, Mr Trump, who directed the deployment of DC National Guard. 

Meanwhile, DC police have confirmed that about four people died during the riots. The response to restore law and order would be led by the Justice Department, said Jonathan Hoffman, a Pentagon spokesperson.

Capitol Hill was overwhelmed with violent supporters of Mr Trump, shortly after he repeated his unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.  His loyalists had descended in the capital to protest against the congressional affirmation of Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election.

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