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Trump blamed for National Guard shooting near White House; ‘he put them there’
President Trump's National Guard deployment and other policies were slammed on social media and elsewhere, after two troops were shot near the White House
President Donald Trump's National Guard deployment and other policies were slammed on social media and elsewhere, after two troops were shot near the White House on Wednesday. Civil rights leader and TV personality Al Sharpton appeared to demand answers from the administration, alleging that the president put the National Guard on the streets.
Authorities revealed that at around 2:15 PM ET, DC National Guard troops were performing 'high visibility patrols' when the suspect shot at them. Executive Assistant Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department Jeffrey Carroll, at a press conference, said that after ‘some back and forth’, the guardsmen were ‘able to subdue the individual and bring them into custody’.
The suspect targeted the guardsmen, the FBI confirmed. A source told CNN that the shooter is not cooperating with investigators and had no identification on him at the time of his arrest. Officials, however, believe that they are close to identifying the man, NBC reported, citing two senior law enforcement sources.
Al Sharpton, MS NOW journalist in focus
Meanwhile, Al Sharpton appeared to blame President Trump for the shooting.
“Two people that are fighting for their lives, guardsmen that this President put there,” he said on MS NOW.
The network's correspondent, Ken Dilanian, suggested that the suspect was reacting to ‘controversy’ around the ICE deployments across several cities.
“[O]f course, you know, there’s so much controversy happening in the United States right now with ice, who are also wearing uniforms and wearing masks. And so there’s, you don’t know, people walking around with uniforms in an American city. There are some Americans that might object to that. And so apparently this shooting has happened,” he said during an MS NOW breaking news report.
After the shooting, Trump ordered 500 additional National Guard troops to be sent to Washington, DC. “This will only stiffen our resolve to ensure that we make Washington DC safe and beautiful,” Pete Hegseth confirmed on Wednesday.
