Washington Gov. Inslee activates National Guard ahead of session opening day
Gov. Jay Inslee has activated the Washington State National Guard to be in Olympia with State Patrol and local law enforcement ahead of the first day of the 2021 legislative session on Monday.
The announcement comes two days after dozens of President Trump supporters broke through the gate to the Governor’s Mansion on the Capitol Campus and onto its grounds, and a mob stormed the nation’s Capitol in Washington, D.C.
A protest against the closure of the Legislative Building to the public was planned to start Sunday at the Capitol Campus, and it included plans to attempt to enter the shuttered building. Organizers have said those plans are canceled.
However, organizers acknowledge the momentum that exists and believe people will likely still show up and try to get into the Legislative Building, where lawmakers will meet in-person Monday. There are several other events planned on campus Sunday and Monday.
On Friday afternoon, temporary fencing had been erected around much of the Capitol Campus.
State leadership directed fencing go up around the Legislative Building and the area between it and the Temple of Justice, according to Washington State Patrol spokesperson Sgt. Darren Wright.
That space, which includes the Capitol steps, a grassy area and flag poles, is officially referred to as the “Flag Circle” and often serves as a stage for demonstrations.
In a statement Friday, Inslee said there will be “acres of areas for people to exercise their First Amendment rights on the Capitol Campus,” while areas with restricted access will be “clearly delineated by fencing and security personnel.”
The governor authorized up to 750 members of the Guard, according to a statement released Friday, and a “large number of Washington State Patrol troopers will be on hand, in addition to the regular Capitol Campus security contingent.” The Guard’s role will be to support WSP.
The Guard will arrive on campus Sunday, according to WSP spokesperson Chris Loftis, and be “fully engaged” Monday throughout the day.
“They could be here longer if needed but our hope is that this firm demonstration of our commitment to safety will dissuade any bad actors from coming on the campus and we will have a safe opening of the session,” Loftis wrote in an email.
He said WSP is also hopeful that people watching television coverage of the events in D.C. see that people who may have had “similarly aligned political views” are being held in poor regard “by the nation and the world for the extraordinarily sad and destructive and dangerous behavior” at the Capitol.
“Between those two forces of caution and shame, perhaps we will see a lowering of the temperature,” Loftis said. A true success, he wrote in an email, would be if nothing happened and people called him to complain about an “overreaction.”
Discussions had been ongoing for a few days, governor’s spokesperson Tara Lee wrote in an email.
Inslee made the final decision Friday with WSP Chief John Batiste and General Bret Daugherty of the State Military Department, Lee wrote, and Chief of Staff Jamila Thomas and Deputy Chief of Staff Kelly Wicker were also involved. However, she said Inslee was the “ultimate decision maker.”
“As legislators begin their work on behalf of the people of the state of Washington, we must do whatever we can to ensure that they can do that work without fear, intimidation or harassment,” Inslee’s statement reads, in part. “The actions we saw in both Washington, D.C. and Olympia earlier this week were completely unacceptable and will not be repeated in our state capital again.”
This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 4:54 PM.
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