GOP Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said this Monday that Florida would not send out any National Guard members to the capital before Tuesday’s State of the Union speech.
DeSantis said that President Biden had gave a request for governors to send members of the National Guard from their states, and he made it very clear that he had no plan of doing so.
“Last week, the Joe Biden team requested the help of State National Guards to be sent to D.C. I have said no to this request — there won’t be any Florida Guard sent to Washington for Joe Biden’s speech,” DeSantis said via Twitter.
According to an NBC Washington report, some 700 National Guard troops were activated before Biden’s address and a potential trucker convoy — an American answer to Canada’s now disbanded Freedom Convoy — that is expected to go to Washington, D.C., in time for the speech.
On top of the National Guard presence, the temporary fencing around the Capitol after the Jan. 6th riot will be put back before Biden’s address.
As The Daily Wire reported:
“Capitol Police gave a comment Friday saying that they were coordinating a security plan for the president’s address with the U.S. Secret Service, adding, “Police agencies across the National Capital Area are aware of plans for trucker convoys arriving in Washington during the State of the Union. As with any protest, the USCP will allow lawful First Amendment activity.”
“At this time, the comment included a statement on the possibility of the fencing coming back but said that no final decision was made yet: “The temporary inner-perimeter fence is a part of continuing discussions and is an option, however at this time no choice has been made.”
Nancy Pelosi also started to plan on capping attendance because of continued coronavirus precautions, but later news said that all members of the U.S. Congress would be allowed to attend. No guest tickets were given for the address, and starting guidelines said that all attendees would be forced to reveal proof of a negative Covid test and wear an N95 or KN95 mask during the event — but this Monday, just one day before the event, a mask-optional policy was announced.