ON HIGH ALERT

Pentagon Mobilizes Hundreds of Active-Duty Troops, Weapons Experts to D.C. as Inauguration Anxiety Rises

Troops with training in biological, chemical, nuclear, and explosive weapons have been deployed to the capital.

The Pentagon has deployed 750 active-duty troops to support President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration in Washington, D.C., including ones trained in defending against the world’s most severe types of weapons. Another 2,000 active-duty Defense Department personnel have been sent to the capital for “ceremonial support” such as the band. Politico reports that troops with expertise in a wide array of weapons—biological, chemical, nuclear, and regular explosives—have been deployed, as have medical personnel with training in mass trauma events. The troops join 21,500 members of the National Guard who have been mobilized to Washington in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol building and a rise in threats regarding the ceremony.