Parson to deploy Missouri National Guard troops to Washington at Trump’s request

Gov. Mike Parson is answering the Trump administration’s call to send National Guard troops to Washington D.C. in a show of force to combat domestic unrest.

“We will be sending some of the troops to Washington D.C.,” Parson said at his Wednesday press briefing. “I think we’ll be doing that probably in the next day or so.”

The governor did not specify how many Missouri troops would be deployed to the nation’s capital, where protests have broken out in response to George Floyd’s death.

The governors of Democratic-leaning New York, Virginia and Delaware have already said they will not honor Trump’s request.

Vandals defaced several monuments on the National Mall earlier this week, spray-painting “Yall not tired yet?” on the Lincoln Memorial and “Do black vets count?” on the World War II Memorial. Parson said that as a veteran, he recognizes the importance of preserving the nation’s history.

“All of our jobs — no matter what state you’re in, no matter who the president is — protecting Washington D.C., protecting the monuments, protecting our history of who we are, is important, should be important to every citizen,” Parson said.

He said that as of now, there are more than 1,000 national guard troops deployed across Missouri to support local law enforcement agencies.

On Monday, President Trump spoke from the Rose Garden, calling on governors to deploy the National Guard and “dominate the streets.”

“If a city or a state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them,” Trump said.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper distanced himself from that suggestion Wednesday.

“The option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now,” Esper said at a news conference.