VA governor says he was not going to send National Guard into DC ‘for a photo-op’

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) said Friday he was not going to send his state’s National Guard to neighboring Washington “for a photo-op,” referring to President Trump’s visit to St. John’s Episcopal Church last week, which came after federal law enforcement forcefully dispersed protesters from the area.

“I saw what was getting ready to happen,” Northam said during a livestream interview with the Economic Club of Washington D.C., CNN reported.

He said Trump’s rhetoric during a conference phone call with governors on the nationwide protests earlier that Monday was “just terrible” and “divisive” and that guardsmen were already being used for Virginia protests.

“Just looking at a lot of National Guard coming to Washington, being militarized, and I said, ‘I’m not going to send the National Guard for a photo-op,’” Northam reportedly said. “And that’s exactly what he ended up doing later that day. So we decided, you know, after hearing that and just seeing what was going on, to keep our National Guard in Virginia.”

The president has received widespread criticism for his approach to quelling protests in D.C. and for threatening to use the Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty troops to American cities.

On Monday, June 1, a week after Floyd’s death, tear gas and rubber bullets were used to disperse peaceful protesters at Lafayette Square about 30 minutes before a curfew was set to take effect in the District. Minutes later, Trump walked over to St. John’s Church and posed for photos with a Bible.

Northam said that D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) did not not ask him for additional resources and said she was not aware of the president’s request at the time. The city, like dozens of others, saw massive protests following the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed in Minneapolis police custody on May 25 after an officer knelt on his neck as Floyd repeatedly said he could not breathe. 

“So I let the secretary of Defense and the president know that until everybody, you know, is on the same sheet of music, we’re not planning on sending the National Guard to Washington, DC,” Northam said.