Texas National Guard to send up to 1000 troops to major cities as Election Day fears mount Nine Line News Team October 29, 2020 Nine Line News 708 The Dallas Morning News reported yesterday that the Texas National Guard was planning to send up to 1,000 troops to Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio to support local law enforcement and the Texas Department of Public Safety after the Nov. 3 election. According to Maj. Gen. James K. “Red” Brown, chief of staff for the Guard’s commander, troops are being activated “as we did previously to deter any civil disturbance at sites in various cities within Texas. Right now we could go to 1,000 troops in support of civil disturbance operations. We’re going to guard buildings just like we did during the George Floyd protests earlier this year.” The Dallas News says Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has not yet addressed the report about the deployment, and his office did not respond to a request for comment. Apparently, the move wasn’t made at the request of Dallas police, and local officials say the governor didn’t tell them about the order either. However, Texas is not the only state planning ahead for Election Day unrest. The Seattle Times reports federal, state and local officials have participated in “tabletop” exercises outlining possible scenarios for post-election violence and mayhem. At least 300 National Guard soldiers, recently deployed overseas, are being trained to handle civil unrest. They will be placed on alert with hundreds of other Guard members who have already been trained for handling such disturbances. Police leaders in Seattle, which has hosted some of the country’s largest racial justice protests, have canceled time off for officers. Last week, the Washington Post reported that the National Guard has designated contingency response units — one in Alabama and the other in Arizona — that are on alert to deploy rapidly to augment forces in other states. Units from Arizona make up the response team for the western part of the country, while units from Alabama will be on alert for the east. Lt. Col. Timothy Alexander, a spokesman for the Alabama National Guard, said the response team is “comprised of military police units that are specially trained to support law enforcement.” Their duties will depend on the situation, he said, but “may include point and area security, manning traffic control points, directing foot traffic, providing security and escort for emergency personnel and equipment, and transporting law enforcement personnel.” The WashPo also reports the Justice Department is planning to station officials in a command center at FBI headquarters to coordinate the federal response to any disturbances or other problems with voting that may arise across the country. Regarding the preparations for the upcoming Election Day, the FBI said it is “committed to protecting the American public’s right to a fair and safe election by securing it” and that officials “are working closely with our federal, state, and local partners so everyone involved with safe-guarding the election has the information and resources necessary to respond in a timely manner to any violations that may arise.” “Of course our preparations for 2020 take into account the current climate of the country,” the statement said. “As always, the FBI has a responsibility to plan for a host of potential scenarios.” And so do we. Americans are beginning to do their own prepping by building stockpiles of toilet paper (again) and guns. USA Today reports that according to FBI statistics, there were more than 3.9 million background checks run through the National Instant Criminal Background Check system in June, making it the biggest month ever recorded. During the first nine months of 2020, gun sellers conducted more checks than they did in all of 2019, which itself was a record year. No matter who you’re voting for next Tuesday, we can probably all agree, “it’s going to be a bumpy night.”
