Two Guard members removed from Biden inauguration over ties to far-right groups

The Army National Guard removed two members from the security mission of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration after they were found to have ties to far right group militias, the National Guard Bureau chief confirmed Tuesday.

“With those two individuals, inappropriate comments or texts were put out there. Just out of an abundance of caution to ensure that there’s no issues at all, [we] had those promptly looked into,” Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson told reporters.

The Associated Press was the first to report on the two Guardsmen that were identified, and that no plot against Biden was found.

Pentagon officials would not go into details as to the subject or nature of the comments, only that one individual was identified through their chain of command and another was discovered through anonymous reporting.

In both cases, the individuals were in Washington, D.C. and are being sent home, Hokanson said.

The Secret Service would not comment.

News of the two ousted Guardsmen come as the AP reported Sunday that the FBI is screening all 25,000 National Guard service members deployed to Washington, D.C. The background checks stem from fears among defense officials that those responsible for security at the inauguration could participate in an insider attack.

The 25,000 troops will be in D.C. as part of beefed up security ahead of the inauguration on Wednesday and after a pro-Trump mob overwhelmed police and broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said that officials are aware of the potential risk, and commanders have been instructed to keep an eye out for any issues among their troops.

The military regularly checks if its members have links to extremism, but the FBI is screening those slated to guard the Capitol and Biden as an additional precaution.

Updated 3:23 p.m.