Twelve Army National Guard members have been removed from inauguration duty in Washington, DC following vetting process to ensure troops do not have ties to extremist groups, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau said on Tuesday.
Two of the individuals were flagged due to “inappropriate” comments and texts while another 10 were removed for questionable behaviour found in the vetting process, Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson said.
“I’m not concerned as a large part of our organisation, if you look at 25,000, we’ve had 12 identified and some of those they are just looking into, it may be unrelated to this, but we want to make sure out of an abundance of caution as I stated earlier that we do the right thing until that gets cleared up.”
The news comes as there are now approximately 25,000 National Guard troops on the ground in Washington, DC ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
While much of Washington has been shut down following the deadly riot at the US Capitol on January 6, defence officials have sought to reassure the public that the troops sent to protect the inauguration are being fully vetted.
Pentagon spokesman Jonathon Hoffman reiterated that the vetting process is in place.
“What the partner organisations have found, but much of the information is, as the general mentioned, unrelated to the events taking place at the Capitol or to concerns that many people on extremism,” Mr Hoffman said.
“These are vetting efforts that identify any questionable behaviour in the past, or any potential link to questionable behaviour, not just related to extremism,” he said.
Earlier Tuesday, a defence official confirmed to CNN that two Army National Guard members were removed from inauguration duty as part of the security vetting process.
When asked to comment on the decision, the National Guard responded: “Due to operational security, we do not discuss the process nor the outcome of the vetting process for military members supporting the inauguration,” and referred future questions to the Secret Service.
The Associated Press was the first to report the two guards had been removed.
Acting Secretary of Defence Christopher Miller said there is “no intelligence indicating an insider threat” to the inauguration.
Mr Miller’s statement came hours after the head of the DC National Guard said that the FBI is vetting troops involved in securing the US Capitol to prevent any insider threats.
“As is normal for military support to large security events, the Department will vet National Guardsmen who are in Washington, DC.
“While we have no intelligence indicating an insider threat, we are leaving no stone unturned in securing the capital,” he said in the statement.
“This type of vetting often takes place by law enforcement for significant security events. However, in this case the scope of military participation is unique.”
